High School Never Really Ends
by Kryzanna
Summary: It's been seven years since high school, but a reunion reveals that some people haven't moved on and haven't changed. Sasuke's still an asshole to Naruto, and uptight Neji still can't stand the lazy Shikamaru. Can a week trapped in high school activities and memories change what time hasn't? Contains yaoi and eventually lemons. SasuNaru, ShikaNeji
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to another fanfic. Once again, shout out to all those who've given me reviews; keep em coming! Sorry for the blatant similarities with my other SasuNaru and ShikaNeji: _The Temp_; I'm kind of writing them at the same time and didn't know which I was going to finish, so I reused ideas then decided to post them both to see what people liked. **

**Warning: Will eventually contain yaoi and lemons**

**Disclaimer: Who owns Naruto? Certainly not me...**

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Naruto Uzumaki was a twenty-five year old man in the police force. He'd killed men; saved lives; been shot and stabbed. He'd been held hostage more than once, and he'd wrestled a savage pit bull. He owned an apartment and his own car. He was in every sense, a real man.

Unfortunately, his masculine image was currently somewhat diminished by the fact that he was currently sitting in the back seat of his own police cruiser with his arms folded and a childish pout on his face.

"I'm not getting out of the car," he declared vehemently as his mother opened the backseat to glare at him; hands on her hips.

"Get out of the car, Naruto," Kushina ordered in a scolding tone. Naruto held up a wrist to indicate that he was going nowhere, "Uncuff yourself from the seat."

"No," he protested, "You can ambush me in my own home, blindfold me and kidnap me, but you _cannot _make me get out of this car!"

"Maybe you're being a little rough on him, dear," Minato soothed his wife, coming around to survey the spectacle his son was making.

"Why are you making such a big deal about this?" Kushina sighed crossly, "You were so happy to agree to it seven years ago!"

"Seven years ago I was in high school," Naruto snapped irritably, "And I didn't expect to want to never see any of my classmates ever again."

"You're being melodramatic," she snorted, "Now uncuff yourself before I get Tsunade out here; she's the one that insisted you come." Naruto paled at the mention of his crazy, aggressive godmother, but merely averted his eyes and refolded his arms.

"Come on Naruto, it's only a high school reunion," his father tried to play good cop; a tactic he was well suited for; being a cop himself, "It'll be over in a week."

"I'll be dead by the end of the week!" he exclaimed, and that was when his mother dove into the car to grab him, grabbing the keys for his cuffs and proceeding to wrestle with her son in the attempt to free him. Minato just sighed heavily and gave a weak glance to the man who had just appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Hello Kakashi," he greeted with a smile.

"Naruto's having second thoughts on this reunion week?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the shaking car.

"So much that Kushina and I kidnapped him," the blonde man admitted with a sigh, "I don't get it; he was so excited in his final year at Konoha High that you'd be hosting a reunion trip when they were older; then he comes back from his senior field trip and never mentions it again."

"I'm sure he'll cheer up," Kakashi shrugged brightly, noticing that Kushina had managed to free Naruto from what appeared to be hand cuffs and was now dragging him out of the back seat by his ankles, "Did he cuff himself to the car?" Minato just nodded with a sheepish grin.

"What's going on here?" there was suddenly a booming female voice from the deck, and Naruto instantly ceased all struggling to stare up in terror at Tsunade; the principal of his old high school –and his godmother.

"Nothing, Tsunade," he replied weakly as she strode fiercely down the stairs and picked him up by the scruff of his neck; examining him closely.

"That's what I thought," she remarked sharply; her eyes narrowing as he made a yielding noise and she released him, "Ahh, Kushina –" her eyes softened, "So good to see you! It was so nice of you to bring Naruto all the way up here."

"He was just a pleasure," Kushina replied brightly, both women understanding that Naruto had screamed himself hoarse almost the entire way up to the mountain retreat, "It was no trouble at all. It was so good of you to host this, Tsunade."

"Well, it's been in the works for a long time," the blonde principal admitted, "Anyway, it's starting to get a little cold out here; come inside and meet the other parents for orientation before they all head off."

"Naruto, dear, get your things," Kushina hollered back to her son as she followed Tsunade into the lodge.

"…First she kidnaps me…then she makes me carry my own stuff…" Naruto grumbled angrily as he collected his bag from the boot and was escorted by his father up the stairs to ensure that he didn't make a break for the road –and freedom.

Naruto instantly recognised most of his old classmates as soon as he walked into the room and sighed heavily to show his resentment of being there. Kakashi, as his homeroom teacher, had walked up onto a small stage where Tsunade was joining him. There was also a young man with long, dark brown hair and pale eyes standing on the stage looking annoyed.

That would be Neji Hyuuga. Reputed genius; martial arts star; rich family; he was a legend through school –so of course he'd been selected as one of the two head boys, despite the fact that he had a major superiority complex and had a ginormous stick up his ass. Naruto grinned despite himself, remembering that the second time he'd met Neji, the two had come to blows. They'd had to be dragged apart by Kiba and Shikamaru, but since then, they'd managed to get on.

Speaking of the mutt; where was Kiba?

Something suddenly came whirling out of nowhere and barrelled into Naruto, almost knocking him to the floor.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" came the familiar gravelly crow of one Kiba Inuzuka, "Do my eyes deceive me, or did you actually get taller?"

"Get off, mutt," Naruto laughed good-naturedly, pushing the wild brunette away from him and smirking, "You haven't changed a goddamn bit!" They grasped hands for a moment.

"I'd like to think I have; maybe a little," Kiba admitted with a wicked grin, hands on hips, "Heard you straightened out; got on the side of justice and all."

"Something like that," Naruto chuckled, "You?"

"Vet," Kiba grinned, "…And father-to-be, I might add." Naruto's jaw dropped open.

"…You _actually_ found some poor girl that would have sex with you?" he exclaimed incredulously.

"I'm hurt, really I am," Kiba smirked, gesturing over in the direction of several of the girls from their class, "There's my lucky lady…" Naruto's eyes squinted and then widened again, looking more astonished than ever.

"No way!" he exclaimed, "You knocked up Hinata Hyuuga?"

"Oh, you put it so harshly," Kiba sighed; the grin not leaving his face, "But yeah. We're getting married after the baby's born –you should've seen Neji's face when we told him."

"I'm guessing he looked a lot like that –" Naruto pointed up at the stage where Neji's signature irritated, stern expression was glaring out at the crowd snootily.

"Yeah, but with a lot more...murderous intent," the other man chuckled, "It's good to see you –I really didn't want to come, but Hinata insisted."

"I cuffed myself to the car seat," the blonde informed him flatly, causing Kiba to burst out laughing all over again, "I did _not_ miss this place…"

"Oh come on –it wasn't so bad," Kiba shrugged, "A week here in senior year…I lost my virginity that trip."

"…You weren't the only one…" Naruto muttered from between gritted teeth. Kiba immediately winced and gave an apologetic look for bringing up sour memories.

"Oh jeez, sorry man; I forgot about that thing with Sasuke and Sakura…" he mumbled.

"Never mind," he shrugged with a sigh.

"I haven't seen her around…" Kiba remarked, peering around at their old classmates, "You think she's still with him? Sasuke, I mean?"

"Who cares?" Naruto hadn't quite sounded as indifferent as he would've liked, but Kiba apparently hadn't grown more observant in the last seven years.

"Oh hey! Shikamaru! Choji!" Kiba was suddenly darting off through the crowd again to greet a few more of their high school companions, leaving Naruto standing there alone and annoyed that he'd been at the lodge for literally fifteen minutes and was already plagued with bad memories.

He had just turned around to sneak out while no one was watching, when he abruptly almost crashed into someone. Startled from his near-collision, he looked up; right into the black, onyx eyes of Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke was everything Naruto hated, and everything he had ever wanted to be. He was cool; rich; popular. Women wanted him; men wanted to _be_ him. He'd been named class president three years running and somehow managed to fit those duties in alongside his extra-curricular sports teams and stellar academics. Naruto had always been one step behind him; in schoolwork, in sports, and in love.

Senior year, Sasuke Uchiha had gotten Sakura Haruno; Naruto's high school crush of four years. To say he'd _gotten_ her would be lying. _She_ got _him_. She'd been the one chasing after him for years, but it was in senior year that he finally accepted her advances. That had been the biggest blow to Naruto ever.

Throughout high school, though he and Sasuke competed against each other in practically everything they did; Sakura had always been a no-go zone. Naruto had made it very obvious that he wanted her, and for some reason, Sasuke Uchiha had kept his distance –Naruto had even thought that maybe it was because there was some kind of weird friendship between them.

Of course, senior year had changed that.

"Sasuke," he remarked indifferently.

"Naruto," came the low purr of his name in response. Naruto looked the other man up and down, taking in the casual, yet stylish suit; raven bangs and pale skin –it was as he remembered; just older.

"I heard you became a big shot, fancy prosecutor," he commented politely.

"I heard you hunt down the criminals I put away," Sasuke replied in a flat tone that Naruto hated and just _sensed_ was mocking him.

"Someone has to do the dirty work," Naruto remarked with a snort and a slight glare.

"Well, I'm sure grunt work is more suited to your intellectual capabilities," Sasuke's tone was not sitting well with the blonde, and he was struggling to not let that show. Then, his face curled into that superior smirk that Naruto had found infuriating seven years ago and which he found he still hated after all this time.

"I see you're still a smug bastard," he commented snidely.

" –I see you're still an idiotic loser," Sasuke retorted with a scowl.

"Say that one more time," Naruto challenged, to which the raven just raised an eyebrow.

"Really, Naruto? You still haven't grown up, have you?" he sniffed in that superior tone. Naruto, unable to stand him any longer already, was about to draw back a fist to punch the smug bastard in the face, when he felt something latch onto his arm.

Filled with a sense of dread, he turned around slowly to see Kakashi standing right behind him, having just caught a hold of his fist.

"Ten minutes in the same room as each other and they're already fighting," he sighed heavily to Kushina, who had appeared nearby to greet Mikoto Uchiha pleasantly, "Naruto; Sasuke; if I catch the two of you fighting, there will be repercussions."

"Kakashi, you haven't been our teacher in seven years; you're going to give us detention for fighting?" Naruto snorted.

"…If required," Kakashi shrugged simply, "You haven't been at school for seven years –I'm hoping you've grown up a little since then."

"Apparently not," Sasuke remarked with a small smirk.

"Sasuke Uchiha, be nice," Mikoto scolded, earning a small snigger from Naruto and a glare sent his way from the Uchiha. Kakashi clapped his hands together after releasing Naruto, having made himself clear, and wandered back up to the stage, where an annoyed Neji was now standing with the two head girls –Temari and Sakura.

"Welcome back!" Kakashi announced suddenly, causing hush to descend on the room, "Seven years ago you lot were the graduating class of Konoha High School and had your senior field trip at this very lodge. Since you were such a _lovely_ lot back then, we arranged to have a week-long reunion here seven years later to see how you've done in life. We have the lovely principal here to say a few words."

Neji Hyuuga was fuming. He didn't show it as Tsunade stepped forward to speak, but he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck bristle as he scanned the crowd. This was _just_ like Shikamaru; leaving him standing up there by himself with the two girls –he was probably too lazy to climb the stairs of the stage. Typical, useless head boy.

Some things never changed.

Shikamaru Nara was the other head boy. He'd been selected for the role because he had the intelligence of a genius and was loved and respected by all. Neji grimaced bitterly at the memory. Everyone _loved_ Shikamaru.

Neji couldn't understand it himself; the guy was lazy, disorganised; perpetually _late_ for everything and didn't have an ounce of work ethic in him. How he managed to graduate top of their class with such minimal effort was somehow beyond the Hyuuga.

And now, here he was, seven years after high school, waiting for the bloody Nara to show himself. Ah; there he was; skulking down in the back with Choji and that Kiba. Neji sent his glare towards the other man; who really looked as if he hadn't changed a bit since high school –maybe gotten a bit taller; a bit broader –but still the same jeans and t-shirt and that ridiculous ponytail. The man looked like he'd just crawled out of a trailer park, for god's sake! Unable to say anything just now, Neji settled with his patented glare and folded his arms across his chest.

Shikamaru had always had a sixth sense that told him that Neji was displeased with him. Ever since freshman year, the Hyuuga boy had always had an aura of disdain that was directed at him. Neji had always been a top-rate student; worked hard despite his natural abilities and was _always_ the best.

Freshman year, he'd been beaten for the first time by Shikamaru; who had admittedly slept through half of their final exam, only to come out with the top grade. That was the first time Shikamaru had felt that glare upon him; and would come to know it very well over the next four years.

When the two of them had been named Head Boys, he knew he was in for a rough year. Neji was big into organising; time management; having things right and proper. Shikamaru; not so much. So he'd endured a lot of that displeased glare.

And now, even after seven years, he recognised it. Sighing, he turned to look up at the stage to indeed find Neji glaring at him; arms folded. Oh yes, he was going to be in trouble when Tsunade stopped speaking. He just shrugged, knowing that the Hyuuga was watching him carefully, and could help but grin a little at the look that he got in return.

After Tsunade's big speech about helping them to all reconnect; and an announcement that violence (with specific reference to Naruto) would be punishable, she declared that the remainder of the afternoon before dinner was for finding their assigned rooms and getting reacquainted with one another.

"Reacquainted with each other?" Naruto snorted as he came up to Shikamaru and Kiba, "…Isn't that what this whole thing is meant to be about?"

"Supposedly," Shikamaru shrugged, "It's rather troublesome."

"Of course it's rather troublesome," came the haughty tones of Neji Hyuuga as he stalked over to greet them, "Too troublesome to join us up on the stage?"

"Wouldn't want to steal your thunder, Hyuuga," Shikamaru remarked with a small smirk.

" –After all, he did for most of high school…" Kiba snickered, and then remembered that he was speaking to the rather overprotective cousin of his wife-to-be. A cool glare from Neji silenced him.

"It's been a while," Shikamaru admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, "How've you been? I heard from Tenten that you're working at your family's law firm?"

"Indeed," Neji replied, not surprised that he'd heard; the Hyuuga in Law, law firm was particularly famous; level with the Uchiha firm. He worked as a defence attorney and often tackled high profile cases, "And you, Mr Nara? I hear you dropped out of engineering…No surprises there."

"Indeed," Shikamaru echoed his words, "I do recall you often expressed your opinion that I wasn't suited to the work required for engineering…" Neji smirked, "…Oh, and by the way, it's 'Doctor'."

"Excuse me?" Neji frowned.

" –Doctor Nara," Shikamaru corrected with a shrug, "Sorry, my mum's been training me to correct people." Neji looked at him blankly as though not understanding, "…I'm a surgeon."

"You're a what?"

"…I thought you'd be pleased to know that you were so right about engineering not being right for me," Shikamaru replied simply, clapping Neji on the shoulder, "…So good to see you, Neji. It's nice to know you haven't changed a bit." He headed off with the sniggering Kiba and Naruto, leaving Neji standing there in his suit rather unable to believe his ears.

The lazy asshole was a _surgeon_? After sleeping his way through high school, he'd gone on to gain one of the most respected jobs in the country? And Neji had half expected him to drop out and live off government benefits for his life –he'd never expected Shikamaru to _have_ a job; let alone a respectable one. Adjusting his suit, he went to collect the key for his room.

Naruto had a terrible, horrible feeling when he received his room key. It was room number seven –a room he remembered rather well. He'd dropped Kiba off at room eight which he was sharing with Shino; just like old times, and was standing outside the ajar door of room seven.

As soon as he pushed open the door, his very fears became reality. Sitting on one of the single beds, there was a certain Uchiha, organizing his clothes and putting them into drawers. Naruto bit his lip, looking over at the other side of the room; where seven years ago there had been a pair of bunk beds.

He shivered at the memory, and wandered over to his own bed, setting his bag down in silence. His parents had departed half an hour ago with the Uchihas –the two wives demanding a catch up sometime –leaving him to socialise with the rest of his class. It was, he admitted, nice to see some of them again, and he'd learnt that Sasuke and Sakura had broken up five years ago –not that he really wanted to speak to either of them.

And now, here he was; just like senior camp; sharing a room with the bastard. Kakashi had no doubt planned this –probably another of his futile plans to force them to get along –the man had tried for four years without success; obviously he was still trying.

Without a word between them, the two men unpacked their things and returned to the main hall.


	2. Chapter 2

When he woke, Naruto didn't get up immediately. Instead, he just lay on his back with his eyes closed; listening to the sound of Sasuke's rhythmic breathing. With a cringe, memories of seven years ago came flooding back.

He'd first laid eyes on Sakura in freshman year. She was the prettiest, smartest girl in their year group; pink hair, bright green eyes –and a terrifying right hook. Naruto had been immediately infatuated with her, and made it known. Of course, he being a no-hoper and a nobody, when they had people in their class like Neji Hyuuga and Sasuke Uchiha –heirs to rich families, he didn't stand a chance.

That didn't stop him from trying. Eventually he was accepted as one of her friends –and so was Sasuke, to some extent. Well, they were all in the same friend group –it'd be a push to call them all friends. Sasuke didn't really _do_ friends. Everyone knew that Sakura wanted Sasuke –even more than they knew that Naruto wanted Sakura and that Sasuke blatantly wasn't interested.

And so Naruto had been okay with competing with the Uchiha for Sakura's heart –because he knew that Sasuke wasn't interested and wouldn't betray him like that.

For some reason, he had a strange sort of trust in his proclaimed rival –a trust that both of them respected though neither voiced it aloud. So, when the two of them had been placed in the same room on senior camp, both had kicked up a fuss (quite vocally on Naruto's part) but there wasn't really a problem.

That was the week that Naruto's opinion towards Sasuke changed.

Their room had had bunk beds –Naruto had ended up with the top bunk. He'd been sent to bed early for starting a food fight with Kiba, but hadn't been able to sleep. He'd just lain there, waiting for Sasuke to get back so they could have their traditional argumentative banter before sleep.

The door had opened, and he'd been about to immediately make some jibe at Sasuke…but that was when he heard a female giggle, and his blood had frozen as it was accompanied by a low murmur from Sasuke. He'd recognise that giggle anywhere.

But what was Sakura doing with Sasuke?

He'd found out fairly soon after when the bunks were shaking slightly and Sakura was gasping quietly. Naruto had just remained staring at the roof; feigning sleep, when really, his heart was wrenching and his gut was clenching as he bit his tongue to stop himself from interrupting them. His eyes had watered and his breath had caught in his throat. He'd never thought that Sasuke had it in him to betray him like that –to bring Sakura into the room they shared –knowing how Naruto felt about her…

"It's time to get up," Sasuke muttered, shaking him –assuming he was still asleep, and blue eyes opened accusingly. The raven just shrugged and proceeded to ready himself for the coming day.

Breakfast was exactly how he remembered it. That week, he and Sasuke had arrived early each morning save the last (which was when Naruto had snuck out before Sasuke and Sakura had woken). That meant they didn't have to wait in line for the toast, and there was still enough coffee. It was like they were eighteen all over again.

"This is familiar," Temari remarked, coming and sitting with them since she was the only other person up. She, like the two men, was dressed casually in preparation for their activities of the day that would no doubt result in them getting wet and/or muddy. Kakashi seemed to think that dirt was an essential part of team building.

"Yep," Naruto admitted, sipping at his coffee, "Just like camp, right? We're the first three up; Neji will be up after he's had his first shower of the day –" They all sniggered at that; Neji usually had about three showers every day, " –And Shikamaru and Kiba will be the last ones up." Every day of their senior camp, Shikamaru and Kiba had been the very last of them to rise –Kiba scrounging for toast while Shikamaru promptly went back to sleep on the table; much to Neji's displeasure.

About an hour later, everyone was settled in the dining hall, waiting for Kakashi to announce what they were doing for the day, and what groups they would be in. Since there were nearly two hundred or so students, they had been put into groups of about twenty, to go around several activities. Kakashi was a little delighted to remember that his group contained Sasuke and Naruto; as well as all four of the head students. It was going to be an interesting couple of days.

"Okay everyone, gather round," Kakashi called out to his group when they had assembled on the grass; not feeling like they were actually twenty-five years old, "We're going to start with a simple team building exercise! Divide into two teams and we're going to make a human pyramid!" There was a chorus of groans but did as he asked as he split the twenty of them into two teams. Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other as they were placed in the same team.

"This is a competition between the groups," Kakashi informed them, "Fastest time gets the biggest score! Get ready…"

As soon as he had called out 'Go', the discussions started.

Shikamaru and Neji frowned, observing and sizing up the people they had been teamed with, Neji casting an eye over at the other team, where Sasuke and Naruto immediately began arguing and were adopting a trial and error approach to building a tower. While the two head boys both inwardly calculated the best strategy for tackling the challenge.

"You three, join Shikamaru on the bottom," Neji decided, being the first of the two to speak and pointing, "I'll be on the next row…" After a brief discussion, his plan was put into action; their weights evenly distributed and build and strength taken into account.

Naruto and Sasuke couldn't seem to get past their second row. Both of them seemed to think they could take the most weight and were both sure that their plan was the right one. Kakashi hid another smile as he watched the tower collapse right on top of Sasuke for the third time. That of course sparked an intense argument between him and Naruto, once again.

Chuckling a little and eyeing the timer, he turned his gaze to where Shikamaru's tower had come crashing down on him due to his own laziness in not supporting his inner arm. This had caused Neji to crash down on top of him –and had earned him a right scolding. He smiled; his students would be children forever.

Finally, after several failed attempts and a slight shuffling of Neji's original plan; his team managed to execute a wonderful four-layered pyramid with Ino balanced expertly on top. She had, after all, been a cheerleader.

When Kakashi announced the winning team, of course Naruto had to go and blame Sasuke…and that just sparked more discord. He was supposed to suggest they do a combined pyramid, but felt that it would be better if the majority of his group actually survived until the next day.

Instead, he opted to move them on to the next activity; the obstacle course. He remembered back seven years with glee, remembering how Naruto had fallen off the monkey bars into the mud and been tormented about it for the rest of the day –and of course how Tenten had gone flying over one of the jumps and sprained her wrist. He could just _see_ this getting amusing.

"You don't all have to participate in this one," he assured them, seeing relieved faces on Choji and Tenten especially, "We're going to have four-person races and pairs races; so anyone who doesn't want to compete, come and get a stopwatch from me; anyone who wants to race, up to the start!"

Naruto headed up to the starting blocks; eyeing the monkey bars with distaste. Sasuke, Neji and Lee were all already up there. Back in high school they had been the most athletic of them all; but he was fairly certain he could take them all relatively easily.

What followed was what Kakashi thought the most punishing forty minutes of his life.

When they were in high school it had been about proving who had the most stamina and finesse. Now, it wasn't so much about that as it was about making sure the other competitors fell off the wood stumps or crashed into the climbing walls. Now that they were older, they had no qualms about playing dirty.

And of course, when Naruto had been defeated in the time trial by Sasuke, he had demanded that they have a rematch…which Sasuke also won. Lee had been declared the champion; mostly because his competitors were too busy making sure the other _lost_.

Kakashi had suggested that the two head boys go against Sasuke and Naruto –a suggestion not taken kindly by Shikamaru, who had opted out of the activity in favour of sitting under the tree and dozing. Of course, he and Neji had lost; despite the fact that even as teammates, Naruto and Sasuke were determined to crush each other.

"Seriously, Shikamaru, you could at least put a _little_ effort in," Neji grumbled crossly, examining the grass stains on his white shirt after having made a valiant tackle of Lee in a particularly violent game of 'capture the flag'. Kiba had been pulled to the side with a bleeding nose after Naruto had accidentally kicked him in the face. Shikamaru made a non-committal noise and shrugged, rubbing his bruised shoulder.

Despite Shikamaru's reluctant participation, Neji had managed to save his team with a win; and had even managed to pull it off with the least mud (and blood) accumulating on his clothes.

"…I never knew capture the flag could be so bloody," Kakashi remarked in amusement as he watched Sasuke limp over to sit on the side lines in defeat while Naruto just visibly fumed at having been beaten by the team that had _Shikamaru_ on it. He'd practically stood in place the entire game –meaning that his team had been essentially a man down.

The entire day had been a struggle for Kakashi to not burst out laughing. Of course, he had also had to make sure that Naruto didn't vent his frustration at Sasuke –which had turned out to be difficult to prevent, considering there were events organised such as the wrestling on the beam into the pond.

Sasuke might've been able to beat Naruto in the obstacle course, but Naruto had more upper body strength, and was able to send the Uchiha for a reasonable dunking several times before Kakashi had decided that he wouldn't be able to hold the laughter in any longer.

By the time dinner came around, his group in particular was drenched, muddy, covered in grass stains, and really not enjoying the fact that they still had five days remaining in his group.

Neji had just squelched off to the showers to get himself clean –he detested being this dirty for such a long period of time –and there was mud all through his hair. Finally undressed, he stepped under the blessed hot water, only to leap out again in aggravation as there was the sound of the toilet being flushed and the water ran extremely hot.

Clutching at his towel, he managed to cover himself as Shikamaru walked around the corner with a small grin at Neji's furious face.

"You did that on purpose," he growled accusingly.

"Perhaps," Shikamaru just shrugged, "…But that would be juvenile. And we _are_ adults now, after all, aren't we?" Neji was far too busy being furious at the Nara for having interrupted his shower that he missed the way that Shikamaru's eyes lingered on his chest, rather than his face, before he moved off to join the dinner queue.

Kakashi was sitting at the 'teacher's' table with Tsunade, who had been inquiring about the days' activities; having heard of the disturbing number of injuries. He was pleased to inform her that things were almost exactly as they were seven years ago.

" –How were Naruto and Sasuke?" Tsunade inquired curiously.

"Can't keep them away from each other's throats," Kakashi replied dryly, "I swear Naruto tried to drown Sasuke in the pond today."

"Those two have always had their petty rivalry," Tsunade reminded him with a shrug, "I thought it would get better in time, but it appears that I was wrong."

"They used to be quite close," Kakashi sighed in reminiscence, and then smirking mischievously, "…Hopefully this trip will prove to be a bonding experience for the two of them." Tsunade saw the scheming look in her co-worker's eyes, but decided against commenting. Kakashi could keep his secrets and his schemes; although she had a feeling that Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't thank her for not intervening.

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**Now, as of this chapter, this story is incomplete... Review if you're keen to read on and find out what happens!  
Much love, xx K**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry about the wait! Hope you enjoy the new chapter; don't forget to review!**

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They were children, Kakashi had decided. Absolute children. Therefore, he had decided to treat them as children. He sighed heavily, surveying Naruto and Sasuke sitting on opposite sides of the room on the floor, refusing to look at one another. They brought this on themselves.

Served them right for starting a fist fight over a friendly game of basketball.

The third day of the reunion had gone much the same as the second; a lot of fighting between Naruto and Sasuke –sometimes vocal, sometimes physical, and sometimes passive-aggressive. That, accompanied with Neji's constant glares at Shikamaru (admittedly, Shikamaru had done his best to avoid participating in anything), was wearing Kakashi down a little.

"I don't care who started it," he announced, knowing that Naruto had been just about to blurt out that it was all Sasuke's fault, "I'm finishing it. Properly, this time." Both men looked at him in slight confusion –though Sasuke managed to hide it as annoyance.

"The two of you fought every day in high school," he reminded them, "And now you come back after seven years and you do exactly the same thing. I would've thought that you could put all that behind you, but it seems I was wrong."

"He's the cheating bastard –"

"See, there you go; throwing the insults around," Kakashi sighed, "I know the two of you can be nice to each other, so now I am forcing you to do it."

"What?"

"Naruto; Sasuke; the two of you are going to sit here and trade compliments to each other," he informed them with a small smile crossing his face, "You'll take it in turns…and whoever fails to say something nice about the other…_loses_." He clapped his hands together gleefully; altogether rather pleased with himself about this.

"…You may of course, insult each other as well," he added, " –_But_ if you do so, you must then offer up twice as many compliments or something you like about the other. You are remaining locked in this room until one of you concedes defeat."

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other; their gaze locking –Naruto's angry and competitive and Sasuke's cool and cold. Kakashi knew he had them. Neither of them could pass up a challenge; and neither of them could stand losing to the other. Kakashi sighed again.

"I really hope that the two of you learn something from this," he admitted quietly, "…It's a shame that there's still so much resentment after all this time, I mean; the two of you were so close once. Naruto; you will start." Then his expression brightened once more and he slammed the door shut behind him as he exited.

There was silence for a long moment before Naruto exhaled gruffly.

"…You're smart," he muttered gruffly.

"What?"

"We have to do this," Naruto snapped, getting up and trying the door to show that it was indeed, locked as Kakashi had said, "And there's no way I'm losing."

"You're an idiot; that's exactly what Kakashi wants you to say!" Sasuke snapped as the blonde took his seat again. They remained in a stony silence for several long minutes before realisation hit them that Kakashi had been deadly serious and wasn't going to let them out. Sasuke sighed, averting his eyes.

"…You're good at soccer," came the grudging remark with a sigh.

"You owe me another; you called me an idiot," Naruto sniffed smugly. Sasuke's eyes flashed crossly; almost rising to the slight bait and flinging another insult –he however, managed to restrain himself.

"You're always positive." Naruto enjoyed the way Sasuke gritted his teeth coldly; not wanting to pay him any compliment whatsoever. They sat in silence again for a long moment before Naruto decided to speak.

"Why do you hate me?"

Sasuke looked genuinely surprised –though his display of surprise was simply a raised eyebrow.

"I never hated you," he finally muttered, rolling his eyes, "You didn't honestly believe that, did you?"

"Well yeah," Naruto mumbled, "I wanted us to be friends; back then. Kind of. Sort of." Sasuke just gave him a dry glare and didn't deign to answer, "Well…um, you're hardworking –like really hard working. I never appreciated it back then, but you worked for everything that you got…" He chuckled, "…Except I hated that about you; not going to lie. I tried to tell myself that you had it easy but…" He gestured at the raven across the room from him, "Here you are; big shot lawyer…" Sasuke smirked to himself, just a little.

"You're loyal," he admitted finally, and Naruto grinned at him; glad of the compliment, "…Even to people who don't want or need your loyalty." Naruto chuckled again with a small smile, knowing that he was referring to himself.

"Remember that fight in sophomore year?" he remarked, "Some guy was making fun of Neji for being from the branch family of the Hyuugas?"

"You lost that fight," Sasuke reminded him with a small chuckle.

"I didn't lose," Naruto sniffed.

" –Only because I saved your sorry ass."

" –And remember later that year how some guy picked a fight with you in the cafeteria?" the blonde continued in reminiscence. Sasuke smirked at the memory. Just as Sasuke was about to take a punch, Naruto had ploughed headfirst into the attacker, shouting something about only _him_ being allowed to punch Sasuke Uchiha. Of course, the attacker just happened to be a year older than them with a large group of friends around.

The two of them had sustained rather impressive injuries but had still come out on top –with a suspension each for fighting like that in school; but it had been a fun time they'd spent in the hospital together –Naruto messing with their beds and constantly changing the channels on the hospital TV.

"Your persistence is admirable," Sasuke added, "I don't know _how_ many times you tried to beat me and failed…"

"It wasn't your turn," Naruto frowned.

"I went anyway. Now you owe me two."

"Um…" he scratched his head in thought. "Well, you never cared about what other people thought of you. I was kind of jealous of that sometimes." Suddenly, Sasuke sighed heavily.

"Naruto?" he inquired, "…Why _weren't_ we friends?" There was another silence as Naruto mulled over this question, "Kakashi seems to think we were."

"…I don't know," he frowned, "I…" He froze, thinking back over the years that he'd known Sasuke Uchiha.

Ever since they'd met, they'd clashed. Sasuke's attitude had been cold and indifferent; he hadn't seemed to want friends despite everyone wanting to be his. They fought almost every day; usually over the most stupid, trivial things; but Naruto had to admit that over time, he'd grown used to Sasuke's presence. He'd always been there, just watching; a constant reminder that to beat him, Naruto had to get stronger; work harder; get better. And despite the amount they fought; they fought together just as much. How many trips to A&E had they taken together? How many times had Naruto been brought flowers by Mikoto as well as his own mother?

There were times when the two of them had been left alone, and though of course Naruto chattered on and on about nothing –mostly insults; they never really needed to say anything. They both had that same drive; the same will to succeed, no matter what.

He chuckled, noticing that Sasuke was also deep in thought.

"…Maybe we were," Naruto remarked quietly, "Maybe we _were_ friends…but…we didn't see it like that." Sasuke nodded quietly, "I always saw you as my biggest rival…" He didn't mention Sakura. He didn't even know if Sasuke knew he'd been awake that entire time, and he wasn't in any hurry to find out.

"You still owe me a compliment."

Naruto was still thinking about that night and it suddenly made him remember something and he couldn't stop his mouth from relaying his thoughts.

"…You're a good kisser."

"Hn," was Sasuke's response as Naruto instantly blushed, clamping his hands down over his mouth as if hoping to stuff the words back in there, "So you remember that?"

"…How could I forget…" Naruto grumbled crossly, trying to force back the blush on his cheeks as Sasuke's onyx eyes turned to peer at him.

It had been the night after Naruto had lain in bed listening to Sasuke having sex with Sakura on the bunk below. He'd been in a foul mood all day and had pretty much made sure that everyone knew about it. Eventually, Kakashi had put him on late kitchen duty to stop his pessimistic attitude spreading to anyone else. It had been late and he'd been sitting alone in the lodge lounge; on a couch by the fire when Sasuke had appeared there in a towel; obviously having just come from a shower.

Naruto had of course ignored him; or pretended to ignore him –sending out angry vibes like a pro and when the raven had started making a coffee, he'd gotten up to leave; not wanting to be in the same room any longer.

Almost as soon had he had straightened up, he'd felt himself being pushed back into the warm wood of a nearby wall with a warm chest pressed against his, and before he knew it, there were lips upon his.

He'd closed his eyes –he knew this because he distinctly remembered opening them to find onyx orbs peering deep into his cerulean ones, and a tongue prying his mouth open. He would've liked to say he didn't react; but that would be lying. He kissed Sasuke Uchiha back –though tentatively; and for years he would try and convince himself that he didn't –and that he certainly didn't enjoy it.

Again…a lie.

And then, as they were kissing deeply, Sasuke pulled back abruptly and left without a word; leaving Naruto standing breathless against the wall.

They'd barely exchanged words since.

"Let's call a truce?" Naruto offered finally, turning to look at Sasuke and shaking the memory of their kiss from his mind, "Just for this week? So Kakashi doesn't lock us in here again?"

With a heavy sigh, Sasuke got to his feet and headed over to the door, knocking once.

"Kakashi?" he inquired, "…I give. Naruto wins."

The lock clicked and the door opened to reveal Kakashi standing there.

" –Did you…" was all he got out before Sasuke stalked off out the door wordlessly. Their old teacher sighed heavily as Naruto followed suit.

"Damn," he muttered after they had both left down the hall, "I really thought they were getting somewhere…" He frowned. He hadn't thought Sasuke would quit so easily! Now he needed a new plan!

* * *

Dinner had finished an hour ago, and Neji was cross. He pulled off the apron he was wearing and began rolling down his sleeves after just having finished helping with the washing up. Shikamaru was meant to have been on duty with him, but of course, as soon as he'd finished dinner, he was nowhere to be seen.

Exhaling slowly to calm himself, Neji headed for the balcony to get some fresh air after having been cooped up in the stuffy kitchen.

And there, leaning on the wooden balcony railing as if it wasn't a big deal, was Shikamaru Nara; looking as relaxed as ever, with a cigarette held loosely in his left hand.

Shikamaru had that instant feeling of disapproval wafting towards him and looked up to find none other than the Hyuuga himself standing in the doorway, his stance normal and stiff but his eyes with the same superior, disapproving glare that he'd come to know.

"Evening, Hyuuga," he greeted with a small yawn, "Lovely night, isn't it?"

"It'd be lovely if you actually pulled your weight for a change," Neji retorted stiffly, "Like for once being where you're needed." Shikamaru just shrugged and leaned back again casually. Neji's eyebrow twitched.

"Seriously, you need to loosen up," Shikamaru smirked, taking a long drag on his cigarette, "Have a bit of fun. Isn't that what camp's meant to be about? Fun?"

"We have responsibilities," Neji sniffed.

"You and your 'responsibilities'," the other man sighed, "You take life so seriously, Neji. Try to enjoy yourself a little."

"That is the sort of attitude that makes me question how on earth you became a surgeon," Neji muttered, "You're lazy. You're unprofessional…"

" –I know how to disconnect from my job," Shikamaru corrected, "You should learn too. As a lawyer, I'm sure you see some terrible things almost daily. That's got to put a bit of a strain on your psyche."

"I'll have you know you know nothing about me –" Neji began to say, striding a few steps forward to better glare at the slouching man in front of him, however, he ended up stumbling on a bit of uneven wood and fallen straight forwards; right into Shikamaru.

Both his hands automatically planted themselves in the wood either side of Shikamaru's body and he was shocked to discover that their lips were pressed together. He was about to wrench backwards in horror and disgust, when Shikamaru began to kiss him.

His lips began to move against Neji's in forceful yet languid movements; deep and slow; as if it were the most normal thing in the world. It took Neji all of four seconds to discover that Shikamaru was in fact a terrific kisser. He deepened the kiss, feeling Neji's lips slowly responding to his own. With a small smirk, he ran his tongue along the seam of the Hyuuga's mouth and was satisfied when lips parted with a slightly breathy gasp. It was as if the sensation of being kissed was removing Neji's inhibitions –he hadn't felt this pleasured by a simple kiss in god knows how long.

Slowly, giving Neji plenty of time to withdraw, Shikamaru slid his tongue into the brunette's mouth; teasing him; coaxing his tongue out to play. When Neji finally did respond, he moaned quietly, enjoying the feeling of the tongue tracing the hot cavern of his mouth. He closed his eyes, forgetting who he was kissing and just doing it; his usually clear brain addled by the beginnings of lust.

Slyly, Shikamaru's right hand moved from the balcony railing to the small of Neji's back, gently coursing down his spine to rest on his ass. He gripped it forcefully and ever so slowly, forced Neji's hips to connect with his own.

Neji felt another moan boiling up in his throat and tried to swallow it down by kissing a little more fiercely. In response, Shikamaru used his hand settled on the Hyuuga's ass to roll his hips down; pressing a knee to Neji's groin. This did cause Neji to moan lowly and repeat the action off his own accord. Shikamaru smirked, kissing him even harder and grinding up against him again. The harder he kissed, the harder Neji responded; hips desperately seeking friction.

While Neji practically dry-humped him off his own accord, Shikamaru ran his hand down the crease of his ass, letting his fingers wander over where he knew Neji's (likely virgin) entrance lay. He thanked whatever gods were out there that the Hyuuga was wearing such tight pants as he felt Neji shiver in excitement as fingers traced over a part of him that had never been touched before.

It was with this shiver that Neji suddenly came to his senses. He instantly became very aware of how tight his pants were around his half-hard cock and how there was something clutching at his ass and making him feel…_something_ –something that felt _very_ good.

Instantly, he pulled back, wrenching away from Shikamaru with Hyuuga eyes wide with astonishment, shock and horror with the knowledge that he had just been publically dry humping a _man_ –a man he had sworn himself blue was the incarnation of all attributes and bad habits that he hated. As if to prove this, Shikamaru took a long drag on his cigarette and smirked slyly, licking his lips. Neji felt his mouth run dry at the motion; that tongue…he shivered again, but told himself that was because it was a cold night.

"Who knew Neji Hyuuga actually had a libido?" Shikamaru remarked casually, flicking the remnants of his cigarette over the balcony and straightening up; only to slouch back into his usual stance. He winked at a still stunned Neji as he began to head inside.

"You might want to sort that out," he murmured softly in the Hyuuga's ear, cupping his crotch in passing; satisfied with Neji's breath hitching; before slinking off inside. Neji just stood there, unable to believe what had just happened, before pressing a hand to his throbbing crotch and resolving to file this incident away in the back of his mind as something that should never, ever be brought up again.

He was mortified. What had possessed him to act so lewdly and so shamelessly in public, and with _Shikamaru_, of all people!

In the back of Neji's mind, however, back where this memory had been stored; he couldn't help but admit that he had liked the taste of smoke on Shikamaru's tongue; liked the way their bodies had been pressed together; and he _had_ shivered in anticipation when he'd been touched by him.

Damn that Nara for always causing such problems!


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome to chapter four. How will Neji react to what happened last night? What's next in the strange relationship between Sasuke and Naruto? Read on to find out!  
...then review...coz everybody loves reviews xD**

* * *

****

"Neji what is _wrong_ with you? You're all over the place today!" Sakura complained crossly, disentangling herself from the four-person pile-up that had occurred mid-three-legged race. Neji immediately realised that he had landed sprawled across the majority of Shikamaru –Sakura's partner, and scuttled away as if he'd been stung, dragging Temari with him. He heard a familiar exclamation of delight from over by the finish line to discover that Sasuke and Naruto had _actually_ beaten them!

"Seriously; first falling off the high ropes and now this?" Sakura continued, shaking her head as Temari was almost tripped again in Neji's haste to be away from Shikamaru's body.

"I did not _fall_," he sniffed sharply.

"Yeah, you did fall," Shikamaru drawled, "Right on top of me, I might add." Neji glared, but managed to clamber to his feet with what little dignity he still possessed. Naruto was gambolling about at the finish line; triumphant at having finally beaten the two head boys at something and seeming to have forgotten that Sasuke was attached to his ankle; sending the two of them flying head over heels onto the ground.

"These pairings were a terrible idea," he muttered, mostly to himself, "Temari is such a different height from me and –"

"I agree," Shikamaru interrupted, "Hey, Sasuke! Naruto! Neji and I will take you on!"

"You're going down, Shikamaru!" Naruto immediately whooped, to a groan from Sasuke as he was unceremoniously dragged back to the starting line, "Sakura, Temari; you guys should join in the race as well!"

Kakashi chuckled to himself as he watched everyone lining up at the start. Whatever Sasuke and Naruto had said in that room; something had changed. He _knew_ they had it in them to work well together! A rocky start at first when they both decided that the best idea was to simply run for it…but when Naruto had tripped for the third time they'd gotten it sorted. And there was _definitely_ something off about Shikamaru and Neji; he'd never seen the pair of geniuses work together so terribly (and sloppily) in his life!

Shikamaru chuckled to himself as he wrapped an arm around Neji's shoulders whilst Hinata tied their ankles together. He felt Neji tense at his touch and the way he slunk his arm around the taller man's waist was tentative. The whistle went and of course Naruto and Sasuke shot off.

Neji and Shikamaru managed to make it about five steps before stumbling and tumbling over each other before landing with Neji practically flat on top of the other man. Shikamaru laughed at the redness blossoming on Neji's face and helped him recover. Several long seconds later, there was another excited whoop from Naruto.

"Jeez, Shikamaru; what happened there?" the blonde inquired, after freeing himself from his ankle binding and jogging over, "I've seen you and Neji completely dominate in three-legged races for years!"

"It's been a while," Shikamaru shrugged as an explanation, noticing that Neji was now standing very far away from him. He chuckled.

Paintball was the next activity up on the list and it was probably the most hilarious game that Kakashi had ever had the pleasure of participating in. Well, he wasn't technically playing; he was observing from a tree with a gun loaded with paintballs of the colours of both teams. Whenever someone came into his line of sight, he'd take a shot and watch the chaos unfold.

Naruto and Sasuke were doing splendidly. Naruto, who actually had gun experience, was dealing out body shots like they were nothing, giving the rest of his team plenty of time to scout out for the flags and eliminate their enemy.

Neji, Shikamaru and Temari were all holed up in one of their team's forts, with Shino, Sai and Kiba raining down a hail of paintballs at them any time they showed their faces. They'd managed to keep them out of the fort, but it was pretty cramped where they were sitting.

"Get down!" Temari shouted, suddenly flinging herself at the two boys and smashing them to the floor as paintballs rocketed in from where Lee had managed to reach a high vantage point. Neji glared up at the roof as Temari pinned the two of them down in safety; ignoring the fact that he could definitely feel the side of Shikamaru's mouth against his cheek –accompanied by warm breath.

"Come on out with your hands up and we won't shoot!" Naruto's voice hollered triumphantly. Temari sighed heavily, shaking her head, flinging her hands into the air and rising up slowly. Shikamaru and Neji slowly followed suit.

"God, don't look so damn guilty, Neji," Naruto hollered with a laugh, "You look like you've just been caught having a threesome up there or something." Everyone laughed as Neji scowled darkly and looked away and Shikamaru took that moment to quickly shoot Naruto deftly in the chest and then drag his teammates to the deck again. That immediately restarted the game –of course with Naruto complaining about Shikamaru cheating.

* * *

Paintball had ended with Naruto's team coming out on top; mostly because Shikamaru had decided to sit in a tree half the game and watch the clouds, rather than listen to what Neji was saying –but of course it gave Naruto bragging rights for the rest of the day.

It was during dinner that Sasuke finally got sick of it.

"Seriously; no one cares; it's just a game," he growled, rolling his eyes as he moodily ate his mashed potatoes.

"Oh come on, Sasuke! That was like the best game of paintball ever!" the blonde snapped huffily.

"You got yourself shot," Sasuke reminded him.

"Shikamaru cheated; we were in a ceasefire," Naruto exclaimed, jabbing a finger at the ex-head student who was smirking in amusement.

"I didn't cheat," he chuckled, "I just took advantage of the situation."

"Just shut it," Sasuke complained. Naruto stuck out his tongue and flicked a spoonful of peas across the table at the raven. He was immediately greeted by warning onyx eyes glowering at him.

"You're just grumpy coz I totally proved that I'm a better shot than you," the blonde sniffed.

"I'd sincerely hope that the cop can shoot better than the paper pushing lawyer," Sasuke retorted sarcastically, reaching across and swatting Naruto with his mashed-potato covered spoon. Naruto's eyes narrowed challengingly, smearing butter on Sasuke's sleeve.

"Don't even start this," Sasuke growled, getting to his feet and heading up to clear his plate; just so happening to spill some of his vegetables down the back of Naruto's shirt.

"Oh that's it, you are so dead!" Naruto shouted, grabbing a fistful of spaghetti from his plate and spinning around; flinging it directly in Sasuke's face.

The raven blundered backwards blindly; crashing into a table and immediately igniting the cry "_FOOD FIGHT_" from Kiba.

Instantly, the room turned to chaos. Food went flying in all directions as the twenty-somethings relived their high school cafeteria days by joining in. Spaghetti, vegetables, potatoes and water was flung everywhere as everyone ducked for cover; Naruto and Sasuke battling it out in the centre of the room with any food they could get their hands on. Kakashi groaned, covering his head as he watched them fighting. Then, before his very eyes, amid the fray, he bore witness to the strangest thing.

Naruto was busy smooshing tomato sauce into Sasuke's hair, and Sasuke was shoving mayonnaise down the front of the blonde's shirt, but they were laughing. They were both actually _laughing_.

God; Kakashi didn't know if he'd ever seen Sasuke laugh before.

Then, looking considerably awful, they both wrapped their arms around each other in a manly hug, before Sasuke surprised Naruto with potato to the face; which set off the angry yells all over again. Their old teacher had to grin a little as the fight died down; the death threats and laughter fading a little into giggles and reminiscence. He was maybe going to have to forgive the two of them this time. Maybe things like this were good for them.

* * *

An hour later, when the dining room was clean –as well as their guests, Kakashi informed them that they were going to be playing an old game from their youth –the human knot.

The game, they recalled, involved standing in a circle, then reaching both hands across and randomly grabbing two peoples' hands. Then it would be a game of teamwork and frustration to untangle everyone into a circle once again.

Everyone groaned, which was the standard reaction whenever this game had been suggested in high school –it was a game that heavily involved invasion of personal space and a lot of ducking and clambering over arms. Neji immediately distanced himself from Shikamaru and kept an eye on his hands as they all started latching up across the circle. Thankfully, he managed to end up connected to Temari and someone he vaguely recognised.

The first few moves weren't too bad; a bit of slight shuffling around followed by a few quick hops over arms; then the real strategy started.

"Okay, Neji, you need to climb over Shika and Ino's hands," Sakura frowned, completely tangled up between Kiba, Lee and Tenten. Shikamaru obligingly lowered his hand slightly, but was prevented from taking it any lower by the fact that he was trapped by Choji. Neji sighed heavily, lifting his leg up and over, planting it firmly on the ground; effectively straddling Shikamaru's arm.

Then he felt it. Something very, _very_ definite rubbing up against his crotch. His breath hitched slightly as he was forced to sink down from his toes and drop into a crouch to help free Temari from a very tight situation against Sai's chest. He couldn't look Shikamaru in the face as he felt his arm press up harder against his crotch; rubbing with intent.

As soon as he was able to, he straightened up, finishing his clambering and escaping as far from Shikamaru as humanly possible in the current situation.

He couldn't escape it though; every time the circle moved, Shikamaru would be _there_. More than once he had found the other man pressed against his back; face in the crook of his neck; breathing heavily into his ear –or there would be another moment when they would be face to face; Shikamaru's arms stretched out almost as if to embrace him. Neji couldn't stop the shivers coursing through his body every time they touched, and no amount of negative thoughts could prevent the blood rushing southwards.

By the time the game had finished, Naruto had successfully managed to fall over and give himself a bleeding nose, everyone had gotten rather more intimate with each other than they might've liked, and Neji was trying desperately to not get aroused by Shikamaru's constant passive advances. If they hadn't kissed on the balcony, Neji might've just thought that the strange proximity was accidental…but since he distinctly remembered them kissing…Shikamaru had to be doing it on purpose.

The final activity for the night, Kakashi announced as being a Burma Trail; or a 'nightline' as some people insisted on calling it. This was actually quite exciting; to see who would still be terrified by the old tricks that used to terrify them in high school. They knew some of the teachers and students would be scattered through the woods as the participants were guided only by a piece of rope.

"I am not taking part," Neji decided stiffly, shifting awkwardly and longing for the privacy of his own room.

"Your loss," Naruto chuckled, "These things are so much fun!"

"Only because you scream like a girl," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Remember junior year? You were _terrified_!" Naruto snorted.

" –I was _surprised_," Sasuke retorted flatly, "_Not_ scared."

"Bet you scream like a girl this year," the blonde dared.

" –Naruto, I'm twenty-five. I'm not going to scream," Sasuke assured him with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, we'll see," Naruto sniffed, and the two of them headed off after Kakashi and the others that were taking part. Neji sighed in relief and immediately escaped inside, heading up to his room and locking the door, gripping his crotch to try and control himself.

Almost as soon as he did so, he was filled with the memory of Shikamaru's hands briefly doing the same thing and he moaned, heading to his bed and flopping down, thrusting a hand into his pants. He was _not_ going to think about Shikamaru. He was _not_!

Of course, that sort of mantra only brought the memory of their kiss to the front of Neji's mind and he couldn't help but wrap a hand around his cock, beginning to stroke himself; recalling the memory of how good it had felt to be grinding against another solid body. He let out a soft, breathless moan as he quickly became fully hard.

Shikamaru chuckled to himself as he stalked off down the hallway, knowing _exactly_ what Neji was doing in the privacy of his room and feeling incredibly satisfied with himself; and more than a little smug with the knowledge that it was the thought of _him_ that Neji was jacking off to. It was only a matter of time now.

While Neji pleasured himself to increasingly erotic thoughts of Shikamaru –all the while growing more aroused and equally annoyed at himself, Naruto and Sasuke had embarked upon the Burma Trail.

Of course, Naruto was far more terrified than Sasuke but still insisted on leading the way. He'd already screamed about four times and had probably shattered the raven's eardrums (according to Sasuke).

All of a sudden, someone leapt out of the bushes with a shriek and Naruto reeled backwards into Sasuke's chest with an almighty scream. The person who had scared him just laughed, disappearing into the bushes as Naruto struggled to regain his balance.

"Thanks," he commented, noting that Sasuke had managed to catch him with one strong arm. He looked up and saw the raven looking down at him with a slightly worried but still kind of amused expression, and couldn't help but notice that Sasuke's eyes, though dark usually, looked like liquid darkness in the moonlight.

"You okay, you idiot?" Sasuke inquired in a soft voice; the word 'idiot' suddenly sounding far less like an insult to both of them than ever. Naruto nodded sharply, not trusting his mouth to speak for itself and say something about Sasuke having pretty eyes should he let it have free reign. They remained locked in eye contact for a moment, and Naruto could've sworn he saw Sasuke smile –a small, _proper_ smile; where the smile at his mouth also reached his eyes. Then, wordlessly, they both looked away and Naruto stumbled back up straight.

"You go first; I want to hear you scream," Naruto decided to say, pushing the raven in front of him to break the silence.

"It's not going to happen," Sasuke chuckled, "And if you scream in my ear again, I don't care what Kakashi says; I'm going to punch you."

"Fine!" Naruto sniffed, and the two of them headed off; both acting exactly the same as they had been earlier. Only now; they carried the knowledge that for a second –no matter how brief, the thought of closing the gap and kissing the other had flashed through their minds; the thought of how easy it would've been to do so.

No matter what they said to themselves, or how they acted now; neither could deny that the two of them had shared a moment.


	5. Chapter 5

**Warning: lemons ahead**

* * *

The next evening, Sasuke entered his room after having a thoroughly satisfying shower to find Naruto pretending to be asleep on his bed. He sighed heavily. It had been a very intense day, filled with sports and orienteering and a go on the climbing wall. Most people were tired after dinner and had decided to hit the hay early.

"Stop pretending to be asleep," Sasuke rolled his eyes with a sigh, reaching into his drawers to find a shirt and some sleeping pants. Naruto's breathing remained steady but he didn't stir, "…Naruto…I can always tell when you're only pretending to be asleep." There was silence.

"…Always?" came Naruto's hesitant reply, opening one blue eye sheepishly.

"Remember that time you fell asleep on the bus on a field trip in sophomore year and no one wanted to wake you while we unpacked all our stuff?" Sasuke smirked, "You were faking to get out of helping. So yeah; always." He pulled on his pants before removing his towel and lying down on his own bed.

"…Always?" Naruto pressed again.

"Yes," Sasuke replied quietly.

"So…with Sakura…" finally, Naruto felt able to broach the subject. He didn't look across the room, just remaining staring up at the roof. Sasuke made an affirmative noise; and _that_ was what made Naruto sit up straight.

"You knew I was awake, and you still slept with her?" he exclaimed angrily, swinging to sit and glare at the raven, who was still staring up at the roof, "You knew how I felt about her, Sasuke! You knew I was in love with her and you still went and got with her! I thought that you understood that she was off limits!"

"I knew," Sasuke muttered, "How could I not know; you mentioned it often enough."

"Then why'd you do it, Sasuke?" Naruto demanded, "Until that point, I'd thought that maybe we shared…I don't know; a kind of understanding!"

"We did," came the flat response. Still no eye contact. Naruto's eyes grew angry and he folded his arms, determined to get a response. He leapt up, grabbing Sasuke's arm and forcing him to face him.

"Then what happened? Until that day you'd never shown any signs of wanting Sakura! Ever! Then overnight you fall in love with her and you're with her for two years!" he snarled, "What's up with that?"

"I didn't love her," Sasuke muttered, "Never loved her. Never even really wanted her."

"Then why?" he snapped, "That just makes it so much more heartless! Toying with someone's feelings like that! Especially Sakura's! If you didn't want her, then why'd you steal her from me! _I _loved her!"

"She was never yours, _moron_," Sasuke growled, looking up; his eyes fierce, "She never wanted you. And still doesn't. Do you still want her?" Naruto froze, and then shook his head.

"…It's been too long," he admitted with a heavy sigh, "I don't love her. How could I, when she'd been taken by the guy who I thought I could trust. You had my back in pretty much everything else –I thought maybe you wouldn't do something like that to me."

"Tch, you still know nothing, do you?" Sasuke muttered, getting to his feet and pushing Naruto away from him.

" –What don't I know?" Naruto snapped, "Come on Sasuke; we're having this conversation! I spent seven years wondering why you would do this to me! I think I deserve to know!"

"It's been seven years; just let it go," Sasuke growled.

" –Seven years I hated what you did; I at least deserve to know why you did it!"

"Don't do this, Naruto…"

"Sasuke, just fucking tell me already!"

"It's none of your business!"

"It's my business why you stole the girl I loved and had sex with her in the same room where you knew I was awake!" Naruto snarled.

"I wanted to make you jealous, okay!" Sasuke finally snapped out, his eyes angrily daring Naruto to retaliate.

"That makes no sense!" Naruto growled, "I was already jealous of you! You had everything! Looks, skills, girls –you had _everything_ I ever wanted! How could I not be even a little jealous? And more to the point; _Why did you kiss me_?"

" –I _wanted_…" Sasuke gritted his teeth, "…To make you jealous of _her_." The anger in the room dissipated and was replaced by confusion.

"What?" Naruto frowned, his stance softening as he eyed Sasuke's averted gaze from across the room.

"You heard me."

"I did. But that doesn't mean I know what you're talking about," he frowned, the anger disappearing from his eyes. He sighed heavily,  
"…Why'd you kiss me? Hell, if that didn't make senior year that much more confusing and hard to deal with."

"It was an apology," Sasuke muttered, "…For taking Sakura from you; but I guess you didn't quite see it like that…."

"I sure as hell didn't!" Naruto snapped, "I saw it as you taking the one thing I had hoped you'd never take and then screwing around with my head!"

"Do you want to know what it was to me?" Sasuke growled, suddenly looking up and staring him right in the eye. Naruto nodded. "That was me deciding to stop kidding myself!" There was silence.

"…What are you talking about?" the blonde inquired; all traces of anger gone from his voice.

"Want to know the truth?" he murmured quietly as Naruto fell silent. Their gazes met evenly and Sasuke's voice dropped so low that it made Naruto shiver, "…I slept with Sakura in the hopes that you would be jealous that _I_ was with her, and not with you." Naruto's eyes widened.

"That's right, Naruto; I wanted her to be you," he growled, "I wanted you to discover that you weren't in love with Sakura; that it had actually been _me_ all that time. I'd hoped that you'd stop thinking about _her_ and start thinking about _me_."

"B-But…I don't…what…"

" –Then the next day you were beyond pissed," Sasuke muttered, "So I knew I'd made a gamble that hadn't paid off. So I stole a kiss from you so that I could stop kidding myself that you might one day want me too." There was only silence, and Sasuke could practically see the cogs turning in the blonde's mind.

"…You liked me?" he spluttered finally.

"Yes, you idiot," Sasuke snapped, looking away.

"Why didn't you _say something_ instead of _sleeping with the girl I wanted_?" Naruto exclaimed hotly, "I spent seven years regretting ever trusting you because you decided that having sex with Sakura was the best way to get me to like you?"

"Well, it's not as if I was in any position to say anything!" Sasuke snapped, "I was seventeen! How do you turn to the guy you considered your best friend and tell him that instead of wanting all those girls that love you, you want _him_?"

"You –I was your best friend?" Naruto inquired, blinking in surprise, "But I thought you said –" Sasuke glared at him, folding his arms, "I suppose…when I think about it…You were kind of mine…" He licked his lips and smiled slightly, still trying to process everything he'd just heard, "…Why did you stay with her for so long? I mean, if you didn't even like her?"

"You might say I enjoyed being in the closet," came the raven's flat response, "It took me a while to adjust to the concept of liking men."

"…And…is there…you know; anyone now?" he inquired, "It's been five years since Sakura; surely –"

"There's no one," Sasuke murmured, "Never really been anyone else…"

" –Anyone else…" Naruto's throat ran dry at the phrase and the implication of it. Dark eyes turned to bore into him forcefully.

"Did you like it?" Sasuke suddenly demanded to know. "When I kissed you?"

" –I…" Naruto swallowed; panicking at being put on the spot, "I…um…I don't know…"

"So maybe?"

"No! That's not what I meant!" he exclaimed, seeing Sasuke taking another step forward. It was only a few steps more before Naruto found his back connecting to the windowsill and Sasuke still advancing. There was something strangely predatory in the raven's dark eyes.

"…Then maybe you need reminding," he murmured, moving forwards another pace and wrenching Naruto's head back by his hair to devour his mouth; lips hungrily pressing against the blonde's and his tongue prying apart stunned lips.

Almost immediately, Naruto began to moan, feeling a strange warm pooling in his gut as heat began to spread throughout his body. Strong arms wrapped themselves around his body and pressed him up against the wall as Sasuke ravaged his mouth with almost bruising force.

"Nnnnhhh, _Sasuke_," Naruto moaned, managing to surface for air, only to have Sasuke's lips reattach to his neck and suck harshly at his pulse, "S-Sasuke…what are you doing? I –I don't want –" He found himself driven forcefully into the wall behind him by a thrust of Sasuke's hips against his own.

"I thought I could do this, but I can't," Sasuke muttered quietly, "I thought I could see you again, after all this time but…"

"Sasuke –you can't tell me you still like me…it's been years…" Naruto managed to pant out, his entire body incredibly aware that the raven was pressed up against him.

"It's only ever been you, Naruto," Sasuke purred in his ear, "I wanted Sakura to be louder, you know? So that you would hear how much she was enjoying herself and want that same pleasure with me…" He pulled back, moving to sit on his bed, leaving Naruto panting against the wall, "So now you know." He started clambering into bed.

"You can't just kiss me like that and just _end a conversation like that_!" Naruto exclaimed, "Can we just _talk_ about this or something?"

"I've told you why I did what I did and then some; what more do you want me to say?" Sasuke inquired irritably.

"I'm sorry," Naruto murmured, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "…I'm sorry that you didn't think you could just tell me. Things wouldn't have changed between us…"

"I wanted them to change," Sasuke snapped, "I wanted you beside me; I wanted to be able to fight with you but know that you'd always still be there for me –"

"You're the idiot if you think for one second that that wasn't already true!" Naruto growled, "Sasuke… I just don't know what to think –"

"Then for once in your life; don't think," the raven growled under his breath, taking off his shirt and clambering under his sheet, "…Just do what you _feel_ you should do." Naruto knew exactly what Sasuke was hoping he would feel…and the problem was…he was feeling it. He let his eyes rove over the raven's toned, muscled chest and for the first time noticed how genuinely attractive he was. He thought back to their first kiss, and then their second, and then to the moment they had shared the previous night on the Burma Trail. He shivered slightly at the memory of how he'd felt when Sasuke had kissed him just then, and decided that he could do this. He slowly moved over to Sasuke's bed and pulled back the sheet.

"I trust you," he murmured, clambering up onto the bed and straddled Sasuke's lap, pressing their lips together and grasping at the raven's soft black locks. He was satisfied to hear a low moan building up in Sasuke's throat and felt hands slide down his back and settle at his hips.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke murmured quietly, "I don't want your pity."

"I would never _pity_ you," Naruto assured him, "Just…I want to see how I feel about this." He tugged Sasuke forwards again and slipped his tongue into the eagerly waiting mouth. Sasuke's head twisted to deepen the kiss and their mouths battled for dominance; Naruto quickly becoming breathless and his hands needily kneading Sasuke's hair. Unconsciously, he began rolling his hips, rising and falling slightly against Sasuke's hips. At the feeling of something hardening against the crease of his ass, he found himself becoming warm all over again and grinding back against it a little harder in excited anticipation.

He moaned as Sasuke's hands trailed lower, gripping his ass and encouraging the rolling of his hips. Sasuke smirked against Naruto's lips, feeling something beginning to jab against his abdomen. Naruto was getting hard; that was a good sign. With deliberate intent, Sasuke let one of his hands drift around to the blonde's front; giving him plenty of time to decline. Naruto, however, seemed far too involved in how much he was enjoying kissing the raven, and made no protest when a pale hand snuck into his pants and wrapped itself around his semi-hard cock.

Naruto's moans became throatier as Sasuke began firmly pumping his cock to full hardness, quite enjoying the way Naruto was grinding his ass against his cock.

When Naruto was fully hard and a panting mess, Sasuke pulled back, drawing the blonde's shirt over his head, revealing a naturally tanned and incredibly toned body. With a "Mmmmm," Sasuke pushed Naruto onto his back, mouth instantly latching onto a nipple and tonguing it to erectness. Naruto gasped breathily, arching up into the raven's touch.

"More –" Naruto moaned, running his hands along Sasuke's shoulders and then dragging him up to kiss him again; loving the forceful way he was being kissed –it was so different from being with a girl…and yet felt so very right.

Sasuke obliged, crawling up further so that he was hovering over Naruto and then beginning to roll his hips against him; the blonde's legs automatically parting for him. Naruto gasped and moaned, grinding back as they kissed; hands running across sculpted shoulder muscles. They continued running down until they reached the waistband of Sasuke's pants; pulling them down on pale hips and a hand dragging a hot, heavy erection free of its confinements.

"Naruto –" Sasuke breathed as a tanned hand began to stroke him. He moaned lowly and thrust against that hand, dipping his head to firmly kiss the skin of Naruto's throat.

When he was firmly hard, Naruto finished pulling off Sasuke's pants and lifted his hips to allow the raven to do the same thing to him.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke inquired as he lowered his naked form onto Naruto's hot skin.

"I told you I trust you," came the blonde's response before the raven began to grind their erections together. He moaned loudly, clutching even tighter at pale shoulders. Sasuke sucked briefly on his fingers before reaching beneath himself and experimentally prodding at Naruto's virgin entrance. Naruto took a deep intake of breath that was slowly exhaled as a single digit was pressed inside him.

"It feels weird," he commented breathily as Sasuke began pumping his finger in and out, looking for the spot that would drive Naruto wild.

He knew he'd found it when he added a second finger and thrust the two digits in sharply; resulting in Naruto moaning loudly and his entire body arching upwards. With a small smirk, Sasuke began aiming for that exact spot again; causing Naruto to go into fits of pleasure.

"What –" he tried to say, but he was overcome by another hard thrust against his prostate and couldn't finish his sentence. Sasuke scissored his fingers several times before withdrawing them and heading over to his drawers. Naruto was sweating and panting as his arms fell limply to his sides.

Sasuke had just started stroking himself with some lotion as lube when he turned back to find Naruto still on his back but with two of his own fingers pushed inside himself –obviously trying to replicate what Sasuke had been doing to him. If it hadn't have been quite as comedic, Sasuke probably would've came then and there.

"Allow me…" Sasuke murmured, clambering on top of Naruto and pushing back his legs, "It's going to hurt…"

"Just –just do it," Naruto panted, and then cringed as he felt something blunt and large beginning to press inside him. He instantly tensed but tried to relax as best as he could. Sasuke was right. It _hurt_. But there was something intense and hot about having something so thick stretching him from the inside, and he decided that he liked it.

He liked it even more when Sasuke, having been completely sheathed inside him for a moment, pulled back and then suddenly slammed back into him, driving his cock hard into Naruto's prostate. He couldn't help it; he moaned long and loud, which Sasuke obviously took to be a good sign, beginning to pound into him over and over.

Sweat beaded on Sasuke's forehead as he thrust into Naruto over and over; finally getting the chance to see the blonde in the throngs of passion; completely losing it as he was slowly overtaken by pleasure. He drove deeper into him, kissing his neck as he did so; feeling Naruto's muscles clench tightly around him.

"Hnn…_Sasuke_ –oh god…_yes, Sasuke_!" Naruto panted, rolling his hips and trying to match the raven's pace. It was too much for him; feeling that thick cock inside him and seeing Sasuke's face above him, trying to control himself. Over and over he felt his prostate being abused and with each thrust he had to moan, running his hands all over Sasuke's body; unable to get enough of it. He ran open mouth kisses along the pale throat, feeling rather than hearing Sasuke's sounds of pleasure.

"Harder…" he managed to pant out, only to gasp in pleasure and slight pain as his wish was granted. If he thought Sasuke had been pounding him hard before; he had been proved wrong. He could feel himself stretching; accommodating that huge length and the pleasure was mounting inside him.

Far too soon, Naruto felt his orgasm rapidly approaching, and Sasuke seemed to know this, grabbing his neglected, leaking cock and pumping it in time with his thrusts. Naruto moaned louder; the only thing he could was cling to Sasuke's neck and throw his head back; letting out a long moan of Sasuke's name as he suddenly came explosively all over Sasuke's chest. His body spasmed and he arched, seeing white as his body was overcome with pleasure.

Sasuke, feeling Naruto's inner walls clenching all around him, could stave off his release no longer and with several hard thrusts, came deep inside Naruto with a low moan; riding out his orgasm as Naruto panted and threw his head back with a moan.

Slowly, Sasuke pulled out and rested his full weight against Naruto's sweaty chest, his black bangs falling into the blonde's face. Naruto reached up, brushing the hair off Sasuke's face before bringing his face down to kiss him gently. Their bodies slid against each other.

"God I wanted to do that for so long," Sasuke murmured, kissing Naruto's neck again and sucking hard enough to bruise.

"I –I can see…why…" Naruto managed to pant out, hands skimming Sasuke's creamy back as the raven peeled himself from the blonde and rolled so that he was lying next to him, kissing his cheek softly and wrapping an arm around him protectively. Naruto instantly closed his eyes and was asleep in seconds, rolling so that he was snuggled up against Sasuke. Sasuke kissed his forehead and tried his best to savour the moment; wondering what Naruto was going to have to say in the morning. But for the meantime he contented himself with a small smile and a whisper of,

"I hope you know I love you."

* * *

While Sasuke and Naruto were in carnal bliss, Neji was taking time out in the lodge hot tub; away from everyone else; giving himself a bit of time to think. It was also soothing his rather sore body; having been on the receiving end of one too many vicious tackles from Kiba in a game of rugby earlier.

"Yo, Neji." He groaned aloud, not in the mood for being around Shikamaru right now. He'd been avoiding him all day; desperate to avoid being put in any more intimate positions and forced to relieve himself.

"Can I not spend an hour alone without someone bothering me?" he complained stiffly as Shikamaru got into the hot tub on the other side –thankfully well away.

"Sasuke and Naruto were having sex. It was too loud to think," Shikamaru shrugged.

"…They were having sex?" Neji raised an incredulous eyebrow.

"Well, I presume so from the amount of moaning I heard," the other man drawled with a smirk, "Typical. It's about fucking time as well. They were so made for each other." Neji just sank lower into the water and looked up at the sky, "Got any ideas on what to write for this speech we have to give on the last day?"

"Of course I have ideas," Neji sniffed, "Not that I'll be sharing any with you; it's about time you finally did some work."

"Oh, drop the act, would you Hyuuga?" Shikamaru sighed, running a hand through his hair, "It's really quite troublesome."

"Act?"

"You know, the one where you pretend to not be into me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Neji sniffed defensively.

"You're transparent, you know that?" Shikamaru muttered, looking up at the stars, "Back in high school you pretended to hate me because you liked me and were too scared to admit it –for some reason or other. There are heaps of openly gay people though, so I don't know what the problem is –"

"I'm not gay," Neji snorted.

" –I think I've proven that you are," Shikamaru reminded him with a small smirk. "Come on, Neji, I'd like to think I'm a relatively perceptive person; and let me tell you; a person can only be in denial for so long. Just drop the act; admit that you like me and we can go out for dinner sometime –or coffee, if you'd like."

"I'd appreciate it if you would _stop_ hitting on me," Neji growled, rising to his feet, "I am _not_ interested!" He did, however, avoid looking directly at Shikamaru's chest –or any part of his body; he didn't trust his own body not to give anything away. Shikamaru just chuckled to himself and shrugged.

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt, Neji," he hollered as the Hyuuga clambered out of the hot tub and collected his towel, "You've been swimming in it far too long. Maybe I should've said something back in high school."

"I still would've been _not interested_," Neji informed him stiffly, "It's not going to happen, Nara. I don't know what game you're trying to play; but I'm not biting." And on that note, he turned heel and stalked off, leaving Shikamaru sighing heavily in the hot tub by himself. He folded his arms in annoyance.

"Jeez Neji," he muttered, "For a reputed genius, you sure are being stupid."


	6. Chapter 6

**Second to last chapter!**

**Lemons warning! **

* * *

Whatever was pressed to Naruto's cheek was beautifully warm. His eyes fluttered open slowly as he discovered that there was a hand being run through his hair. He looked up, along the pale chest he'd been lying on, to find the familiar face of Sasuke Uchiha apparently having just finished watching him sleep.

"Morning, bastard," Naruto commented with a yawn, curling up again and running a hand down the raven's chest.

"Morning, you idiot," came Sasuke's smirking response. Naruto decided against yelling at him and noted the sheet draped across their lower halves; the previous night coming back to him in a flood of memories.

"So…we had sex…" he remarked conversationally.

"That we did," Sasuke seemed amused by his choice of opening statement.

"It was um…" Naruto seemed to be struggling for words.

" –You said you wanted to see how you felt about it," the raven offered lazily, languidly running a hand through blonde hair.

"I did," said blonde replied with a small frown, "And I liked it…I liked it a lot…"

"Well that's good," Sasuke chuckled, wrapping a strong arm around him in an intimate embrace.

"You know what?" Naruto decided, "…I think I do like you. Or did. Or something…I mean…" He frowned, refusing to look Sasuke in the eye,  
"…At the very least I really liked the sex."

"I think liking taking it up the ass is a pretty good indicator of sexual orientation," Sasuke remarked, only to be glared at by cerulean eyes.

"I think…I think…I think I need to think…" Naruto concluded, sitting up and flinging the sheet off himself, wincing as he not only noticed that his chest was streaked with dried cum, but that his entire lower half seemed to be in a large amount of aching pain. He clutched at his lower back as he stood and began hobbling over to get a towel. "Breakfast's soon," he added with a grin, pulling on a pair of pants so he could hold his towel to his chest. As he turned back for a moment, he saw Sasuke grace him with a rare, small smile that travelled all the way up to his eyes.

"I'll meet you there," Sasuke sighed, sitting up and stretching as the door clicked shut as Naruto slunk out to go have a shower. The raven looked up at the roof. Well, Naruto hadn't reacted quite as badly as he might've. He needed to think, did he? Always dangerous, but it was something. Maybe there was potential for something there? Well, he'd waited what, ten years to hear that _maybe_ there could be something; he could wait a little while longer.

At least he now had the memory of sex with Naruto to tide him over.

He smirked to himself; at least Naruto had enjoyed having sex with him.

Almost as soon as the door had shut behind Naruto, a door opened down the hallway and Neji Hyuuga stalked out; obviously just fresh from his shower. As he passed Naruto, he smirked slyly –a distinctly_ knowing_ smirk that had Naruto's eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"What's with the look, Hyuuga?" he demanded to know crossly.

"Oh, nothing," Neji sounded far too innocent, "…Just…heard you had a good night's all."

"Oh," Naruto frowned as Neji continued to walk off –but then stopped to look over his shoulder.

" –A good night with the Uchiha, that is," he smirked teasingly, causing Naruto's face to blush, "…Thin walls, Naruto." Chuckling to himself, he headed off to breakfast.

Naruto cursed his luck; the one day that Neji Hyuuga decided to be on time to breakfast and he had to run into him _now_. He sighed to himself.

In the shower, he began mulling things over in his mind. Did he like Sasuke? Well, obviously at least a little –the sex had been fantastic, so maybe he was a little gay; the fact that he'd _wanted_ to try sex with him had to say something, right?

Sasuke was undeniably hot. He was intelligent, motivated, and hardworking; everything Naruto ever wanted in himself and everything he'd always been jealous of in Sasuke. They fought constantly, but he had to admit that he'd always liked their fights. They'd always insulted each other, but eventually they'd just kind of become pet names. He'd always admired the Uchiha a little…

They had been best friends, he realised. They were always there for each other (whether the other expressed the desire to have them close or not); always had each other's back; always kind of knew things about one another that didn't need to be said. And of all people, Naruto Uzumaki had been the one to best understand the self-inflicted outcast amidst a sea of people that was Sasuke Uchiha.

That, coupled with the fact that Naruto hadn't really ever been very happy with any of his girlfriends made him think that maybe; just maybe; he should try things with Sasuke. What harm could it do? Naruto had always imagined that when he finally ended up with someone; they would be his best friend –someone who knew him so well and yet still wanted to be with him; a person he could both laugh with and fight with. He suddenly thought of that small smile that Sasuke had given him on the Burma Trail, and again, just before he left for his shower.

The very memory of it made butterflies beat in his stomach and he had to grin. He decided he liked that smile and wanted to see it more. After about fifteen minutes of more shower-time deliberating, he decided that yeah; maybe he did like Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

Kakashi had heard whispers, but he hadn't dared believe them until he saw Sasuke and Naruto at breakfast. They weren't sitting together, but he could tell that there was definitely something different about the two of them. Insults were thrown in the dishes line; but they lacked ice –and more than once, he'd even caught Sasuke _smiling_. There was also the very obvious proof of hickeys dotting Naruto's neck that _something_ had gone down in the night.

He'd had to grin to himself. Finally! Finally the two of them had acknowledged what was between them! It might've taken ten years; but better late than never, he supposed. Perhaps he'd had something to do with it…putting them as roommates had definitely been a good move…but perhaps they really had grown up and had resolved things in their own way. It made him proud of the two of them. Also, he needed to claim some money from Tsunade; he'd had bets on the two of them sleeping together for _years_ and the old bat hadn't believed that it would ever happen.

But for now there was the issue of Neji Hyuuga.

It was after dinner on the Saturday night; the last night of the reunion, and Kakashi had just finished reminding the ex-head boy that he and Shikamaru had to present a speech at the final lunch the following morning about whatever they saw fit to mention. Neji had, of course, kicked up a royal fuss about it; claiming that he couldn't work with Shikamaru and that it was a waste of time including the other ex-head boy.

Kakashi had experienced enough of these rants through high school to ignore them and insist on them being done anyways; much to Neji's chagrin. And so he'd turned a deaf ear to all complaints and sent Neji off to Shikamaru's room for the two of them to sort out their differences and _maybe_ for Shikamaru to finally get Neji to admit his attraction to him. God; the Hyuuga was so obvious about it, even if he hadn't realised.

It had driven everyone crazy in high school. Neji must've been the only person that didn't know or speculate upon it.

And so, Neji had had to stalk off to Shikamaru's room with his nose in the air and a clipboard under his arm; determined to get this speech finished as quickly as possible, to spend as little time in Shikamaru's presence as he could. It was getting late, and he was irritable.

"You look stressed," Shikamaru remarked conversationally, as the door opened, not even bothering to turn to look at who it was. Neji glared. The other man was wearing sweat pants and a black singlet; his hair loose from its ponytail and currently being towelled dry.

"Let's just get this done," Neji muttered.

"Do you want a back rub?" Shikamaru inquired casually, grabbing a handful of notes he'd taken.

"What?" Neji snapped instantly.

" –No tricks; no happy ending," the lazy genius sighed heavily, "Just a back rub to ease your tension. Purely platonic; I swear."

"You swear?" Neji was still suspicious.

" –On my mother's life," Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Neji said nothing but turned his back to face the other man as he took a seat on the bed. Shikamaru took this as consent and sat down behind him, taking the brunette's shoulders and beginning to massage them gently.

Instantly, Neji relaxed against his hands; letting Shikamaru's talented hands knead out the strings of knots that dotted his back, and he couldn't help but sigh a little in relief. It felt good; he had to admit that.

"I meant what I said," Shikamaru remarked simply, " –Just admit you like me and we can go out for dinner."

"You said platonic!" Neji growled, immediately spinning around and slapping his hands away from him. Shikamaru just sighed heavily, running a hand through his unbound hair.

"It was completely platonic," he defended, "…The conversation maybe not so much…" There was silence as Neji folded his arms crossly, "Look; have you thought of anything to say for our speech tomorrow?"

"I have some ideas," the brunette replied sharply, holding out the clipboard for Shikamaru to see. After scanning it, the other man rolled his eyes.

" –Talking about our arts programme and scholarship system, really?" he grunted, "That's not what they want to hear! They want to hear about how high school shaped you as a person!" Neji just scoffed at his suggestion.

"Okay, listen to me," Shikamaru's tone suddenly changed, "…You're a rational guy, right?"

"…I would agree with that," came Neji's stiff response.

" –Therefore I am going to give you several rational reasons for why you should kiss me." Before Neji could argue, Shikamaru continued speaking.

"Firstly; there will be no repercussions. After tomorrow we will likely never see each other again and you can pass it off as an experiment that you didn't want," he said, "I'm guessing you've never been entirely happy with any of the women you've been with, so there's that. You're curious. You thoroughly enjoyed the last time I kissed you…and finally; I _won't_ tell our high school friends that I overheard you masturbating to thoughts of me."

"You wouldn't dare spread such lies!" Neji growled.

"Not lies, Hyuuga," Shikamaru smirked smugly, "And if it _was_, they'd believe me."

"Why on earth –"

"Everyone thought you were into me," he shrugged, "Kiss me…and prove them wrong." Neji paused with a scowl, genuinely mulling this over in his mind. Say he _did_ kiss Shikamaru; just the once; then he could destroy all preposterous ideas that he bore some sort of attraction to the man and then never have to see him again. It couldn't hurt…right?

"One kiss," he growled.

"One kiss," Shikamaru nodded, knowing already that he'd won. Neji bit his lip, and then with a heavy sigh, began to lean forward. The two of them moved forward slowly, and then tentatively, Neji's lips met Shikamaru's.

It was a brief, open-mouthed kiss, but he could instantly taste a trace of smoke, and the roughness of the other man's lips. As he withdrew, he could feel warmth pooling in his stomach and his breath hitching. His mind flashed back to how he'd felt the first time Shikamaru had kissed him and his body shivered in pleasure at the memory.

It was about that moment that he left his self-imposed, years long state of denial.

He crashed his lips against Shikamaru's; once, twice; and then wrapped his arms around the other man's neck, rising to his knees to bring their bodies closer together as he kissed him deeply. He gasped as Shikamaru's hands immediately trailed down his sides and then moved to grip tight at his long, silky hair. A loud moan built up in his throat as he thrust his tongue through Shikamaru's lips and pulled him even tighter. Shikamaru's lips left Neji's to latch onto his neck; trailing kisses across his throat and sucking at his pulse hungrily; enjoying watching the way pale eyes rolled back into his head in pleasure.

Shikamaru had to admit he was a little surprised as he was roughly shoved to his back and the usually so controlled Hyuuga clambered on top of him, kissing him deeply and fiercely. In any case, he wasn't complaining.

"Why the _fuck_ do you have to be so goddamn clever?" Neji snarled, rapidly unbuttoning his shirt and flinging it to the floor, "Why couldn't you just leave me alone, dammit?"

"I liked you; so sue me," Shikamaru growled, wriggling out of his singlet and disposing of it; leaning up to capture a hard nipple between his teeth. Neji appeared to like the feeling of his tongue rubbing harshly against the nub as he gripped the back of his neck tightly; keeping him there as he began to roll his hips.

" –I thought I was so fucking careful," Neji growled breathily, "I would've been _fine_ with nothing happening with you; you weren't good for my reputation –"

"I was the best thing that ever happened to your reputation," Shikamaru smirked, his hands dipping low to grope the brunette's ass as their lips met again, "…Everyone thought that dating me might get rid of the stick up your ass…" He chuckled, "…I begged to differ…I thought it might add to it." Neji growled ferally in his throat, forcing Shikamaru to look into his eyes.

"Then prove you're not all talk," he muttered, "…And fuck me." On that note, he thrust his tongue straight back into Shikamaru's and started grinding down against his hardening cock teasingly. After a few moments, he got up and drew off his pants, leaving him standing in front of Shikamaru stark naked and arms folded expectantly. Shikamaru, getting the picture, did the same; only to find Neji's mouth drop open in astonishment as he crawled back forwards.

"…You're huge," he remarked flatly, eyeing the massive cock in front of him as he experimentally ran his tongue along the underside, sucking hard on the head. Shikamaru just smirked and then instantly grabbed Neji's hair as the brunette decided to attempt to completely engulf him. He failed to do so, but compromised by hurriedly pumping whatever he couldn't fit in his mouth.

"God; _fuck_, Neji…" Shikamaru moaned, only to have pale eyes look up at him seductively. He watched, growing increasingly more aroused as, whilst maintaining full eye contact, Neji ran his tongue the complete length of his shaft and with an exaggerated moan, licked the precum from the head.

"You like that?" Neji licked his lips appreciatively, "…Well, do you know what I want?" Immediately, his lips were wrapped hard around Shikamaru's cock, bobbing up and down forcefully; indicating what he wanted Shikamaru to be doing to him. The lazy genius moaned as the Hyuuga deep-throated him hard; it was too much for him being in that hot cavern.

To stop himself from cumming, Shikamaru wrenched Neji's head off his cock and dragged him back up for a heated kiss; their tongues entwining passionately as their naked bodies pressed together eagerly. Shikamaru held out three fingers, which Neji languidly sucked on, mimicking the motions he'd just made upon Shikamaru's cock.

Neji wiggled in a little discomfort as he felt the first digit penetrate him.

"…Jeez, you're so tight…" Shikamaru murmured, forcing his finger deeper through Neji's entrance and beginning to thrust it slowly to loosen up his ring of muscles, "Are you sure –"

"I have waited for your cock in me for too long," Neji growled, slamming his ass down against the penetrating fingers to force them deeper. Chuckling at his impatience, Shikamaru obligingly pressed another finger inside him and began roughly scissoring them to continue stretching him. While he did this, he was satisfied to note Neji grinding back against them and rolling his hips.

All of a sudden, the brunette let out a low moan and his inner muscles clenched slightly. With a smirk, Shikamaru immediately angled his fingers and thrust into the same point again. The result was instantaneous –Neji's back arched and he automatically began riding those two fingers; desperate to feel that surge of pleasure again. Shikamaru, timing himself, inserted his third digit as Neji impaled himself, causing the brunette to moan in both pleasure and pain; his breathing becoming laboured.

"More…" he grunted, sweat beading on his forehead as Shikamaru obligingly withdrew his fingers and reached to the bedside table for some lotion to slick up his cock. Neji remained panting on top of him, rising slightly. He glared as Shikamaru made to flip them over.

"_I'm_ on top," he growled in a fierce tone. Shikamaru didn't complain as Neji slowly sank down; the huge blunt head of Shikamaru's cock pressing at his tight entrance. He panted; one hand clutching hard at the back of Shikamaru's neck; desperately trying to relax as he felt himself being stretched as he was slowly entered. "Oh god….fucking…jeez…you're fucking huge…"

"We can –" Shikamaru was about to finish his sentence with 'stop', but that was before Neji braced himself and slammed his hips downwards; completely impaling himself upon Shikamaru's cock. He moaned long and loud, rolling his hips around to get comfortable and used to having something so huge penetrating him. Shikamaru began panting heavily, running his hands down Neji's back and pressing hot kisses along his throat.

"That was so fucking hot…" he murmured in a sultry tone in Neji's ear. In response, Neji began to rise and fall, slowly sliding up and down that thick shaft, trying to locate his prostate again. As he fell again, Shikamaru slammed his hips upwards, and Neji gripped him tightly with a loud moan. The lazy genius smirked, instantly focusing all his energy into pounding into that one spot; determined to drive the Hyuuga wild.

Within minutes, Neji was riding Shikamaru's cock shamelessly, flinging his head back and moaning wildly as Shikamaru wrapped a hand around his leaking, neglected cock and began pumping it in time to his thrusts. Neji had grabbed the headboard of the bed, forcing himself down even harder; taking in Shikamaru as much as possible –eyes locked on the man beneath him. Shikamaru gazed up through lust-glazed eyes and couldn't help but moan as he saw the pale, toned man above him; riding him like a pro; long hair draping his shoulders and eyes finally glistening with desire.

"God, Neji, you feel so fucking good…" Shikamaru growled, hands gripping pale hips tightly and slamming him down even harder; thrusting himself deeper into Neji; feeling his inner walls clench unbearably pleasurably around him, "You look pretty good too; with my cock in you..." He thrust up harder again, watching Neji's face fill with pleasure at the motion.

"Harder," Neji demanded, tears beading in his eyes with how hard he was already being pounded, "Fuck me _harder_, Shikamaru…" The way he said Shikamaru's name was more of a breathy gasp as he was unceremoniously flipped, his legs pushed back against his chest as Shikamaru took the dominant role and began brutally pounding into Neji's tight hole; watching the Hyuuga writhe beneath him. Neji's eyes were altering between scrunched tightly shut and wide with pleasure as his mouth gaped with breathless gasps. He was clutching at the sheets; his back arching as with every thrust he felt Shikamaru's huge length push against something deep inside him.

Skin slapped upon skin as Shikamaru leaned down to kiss him; thrusting wildly and gripping long hair. Neji looked up at the man he had sworn he detested through high school; his black hair hanging loose as his muscles rippled with every move he made. His eyes that Neji had tried to tell himself were squinty were in fact sultry and hid an intensity and the way his tanned skin was glistening with a sheen of sex sweat…

There was no denying it; Shikamaru Nara was damn sexy.

Suddenly, he felt Shikamaru drive into him even harder than before, and he actually lurched up, wrapping his arms around the other man's neck with a hoarse cry.

"You like that?" Shikamaru's voice was cracked with exertion and lust as he repeated the motion. Neji moaned again as he felt that huge cock shift inside him again and again. He could feel his orgasm rapidly approaching, and in response, flipped them again; determined to ride Shikamaru to his release.

Over and over he impaled himself upon Shikamaru; harder and harder until he finally reached his release; seeing white from the pleasure and cumming all over Shikamaru's chest. He immediately collapsed, his hands planting into the headboard as he panted, feeling Shikamaru shudder beneath him and something warm coating his insides as the other man released deep inside him.

Their gazes remained locked intensely as Neji rose up with a wince; Shikamaru's softening cock pulling from him. Shikamaru felt Neji's weight settle against his hips.

"I don't really understand what just happened," he remarked flatly.

"…I'd think that was quite obvious," Neji commented; his face quickly beginning to return to that disdainful, unimpressed expression. Shikamaru ran his hands along Neji's thighs, feeling the heat radiating from them.

"I meant the part when you went from prude to nympho in ten seconds flat…" Shikamaru reminded him, yanking Neji down so that their chests were touching and their faces mere millimetres from each other. Neji just smirked slyly, kissing Shikamaru's neck suggestively.

"…I have wanted to have sex with you since I was sixteen," Neji whispered in a sultry tone, "I just…I just didn't want everyone to know…"

"Well they already did," Shikamaru smirked, his hands running down to Neji's ass and caressing his stretched hole that was sticky with his cum. Neji moaned lowly again, kissing him deeply again. Shikamaru sighed and pulled Neji off him for a little, "No, really, Neji…What just happened." Neji sighed, pulling back and beginning to pump Shikamaru's cock back to life.

"…You were right," he muttered, "I didn't want to admit I liked you in high school. You were lazy; annoying; unpunctual and had no work ethic. It was embarrassing and I couldn't deal with being attracted to a man. But really…" He kissed Shikamaru again passionately, "…I was a guy. I wanted you…And I still do…Even more than before…" To prove so, he ground his ass back against Shikamaru's half-hard cock and looked down into his eyes. Again, his eyes were glazing with lust.

"We're talking about this in the morning," Shikamaru growled warningly, before ferally reaching up and grabbing Neji's neck; bringing him down into a crushing kiss.

* * *

It was in the lodge lounge that Naruto found Sasuke that evening. They hadn't exchanged many words that day; mostly settling with looks across the room; Sasuke giving Naruto some space to work out what he wanted.

The raven was talking to Sakura, and the pink-haired girl was frowning and looking unhappy. Sasuke was scowling.

"Hey there, Sakura," Naruto greeted, pulling up to the two of them.

"Sorry, Naruto, but you don't need to get involved," Sakura frowned flatly.

" –Naruto, it's fine," Sasuke corrected coldly, "…Sakura was just leaving."

" –No! We're not finished talking, Sasuke," she growled.

" –Sakura; it's not going to happen," he muttered, "You're causing a scene. We have been over for five years, and we are never getting back together."

"…Then why are you here?" she hissed, "Why else would you come to this thing? I'm your only connection to high school –" She was suddenly completely shut up when all of a sudden, Naruto leaned forwards and captured Sasuke's lips in a deep kiss. Sakura's face dropped and Kakashi immediately dragged Tsunade over by her elbow to point and gesture to cough up the money.

Naruto pulled back and grasped Sasuke's arm.

"He came back to confess his love for me," he remarked casually. Sasuke's eyes glanced darkly over to glare at the blonde, "What? You knew I was still awake." He chuckled to himself.

"Sasuke? Y-You and Naruto?" Sakura exclaimed.

" –Ask him?" Sasuke muttered, rolling his eyes. Naruto grinned.

"Exactly," he sniffed, kissing Sasuke on the cheek teasingly and causing the raven to roll his eyes in exasperation, "I just came to say goodnight…"

"Goodnight, Naruto," Sasuke purred with a small smirk as Sakura stalked off with her nose in the air, "…You didn't have to do that…"

"Just thought you'd like to know that I want to try this, maybe," he grinned teasingly, waving goodnight impishly, "…Me and you, I mean. Ask me tomorrow morning." He chuckled to himself as he watched Sasuke stick his hands in his pockets and give himself that slight smile; a smile that Naruto knew reached his eyes.

With a grin that he'd been able to get to Sasuke before going to sleep –he was exhausted –he headed off towards his room.

Almost as soon as he came level with Shikamaru's door, it just so happened to open, and a dishevelled Neji appeared, finishing buttoning his shirt. The Hyuuga looked up in shock to see Naruto standing there with an incredibly smug look on his face as he drank in the sight of his old, staunch head boy with ruffled, messy hair; his clothes crinkled, and a string of hickeys dotting his throat.

"Had a good time with Shikamaru, did we?" Naruto inquired cheekily, "...Thin walls, Neji," he added teasingly. Instead of saying a word, Neji spun on his heel and haughtily headed off down the hallway towards his own room; a distinct limp in his stride. Naruto chuckled to himself as he spied Shikamaru pulling on a pair of pants. He gave the lazy genius a thumbs up (which was returned) before heading off to his room -to fall asleep in a really good mood.

Sasuke arrived back to his room to discover that Naruto was fast asleep in _his_ bed. He smirked to himself, pulling off his shirt and slipping into some sleeping pants before crawling into bed behind the blonde to wrap an arm protectively around him. The blonde automatically snuggled up against his pale chest and the raven had to smile.

* * *

**And how's that? Naruto and Sasuke being all cute and stuff...and Neji ****_reaaaaallly_**** wanting Shikamaru! Finally climbing out of denial, Neji! Review and tune in soon for the final chapter!  
xx K**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here is the final chapter! (Finally) Cheers to all you faithful reviewers -keep em coming; I love to hear from you! Hope you enjoy! (Sorry if maybe it's a weeee bit cheesy :D )**

* * *

There was a low murmur going through the crowd as Neji stepped up onto the stage, trying to hide a bit of a limp. Of course, Shikamaru wasn't up there with him, Temari and Sakura, but he didn't expect him to be, and for once, he found that he didn't have a problem with it.

Everyone went quiet as he stepped forwards, clearing his throat.

"Kakashi asked me to present a closing speech today," he began, when the room had fallen silent, "I was going to remind you of Konoha High School's stellar reputation; it's academic success and it's sports programme…" He allowed himself a small smile, "But I decided that there was something more important about our school than how many athletics championships we won –sorry Lee." Lee just shot him a thumbs up.

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"When I came to Konoha High, I was a workaholic," he chuckled, "…I still am. I was proper; a buzz kill and I'll be honest; a jackass –"

"You still are!" Naruto chortled from the back row. Neji gave him a withering glare.

" –Naruto Uzumaki was a no-hope prankster," he continued, "…Sasuke Uchiha was a sullen celebrity. Kiba Inuzuka was a mutt. My lovely cousin Hinata; she couldn't speak two words to a man –not that I objected to that, of course…" There was a low chuckle.

"Look at them now," he admitted, "…Naruto's out fighting crime; Sasuke's actually got a smile on his face –although that's probably Naruto's doing, as usual –" Sasuke's smile automatically changed to a brooding glare until Naruto, sitting next to him, was seen to tug at his cheek playfully, "…Kiba's got himself a respectable job; though his hygiene is still questionable…and Hinata –well, she's going to be a mother soon." He gazed fondly at his cousin.

"And as for me…" he chuckled again, "I've learnt a few things. I might still be a buzz kill jackass…but at least this week I've come to realise something about high school and all you people that I grew up with."

"High school taught me how to work, yes," he admitted, "…It taught me calculus and how to write an essay. But it was all of you that taught me how to work _hard_. It was your dedication, and being around you that made me who I am today. You all taught me that I could be whoever I wanted to be; and that was fine." He took the microphone and headed over to his co-head students.

"Temari; you showed me that it was okay to go for what I wanted and that it was something I'd be respected for," he grinned, "…Sakura…well, you showed me that obsession isn't healthy –please get over Sasuke, you deserve a straight man –we all knew he wanted Naruto's ass anyway."

" –Oh yeah, like we all knew you wanted Shikamaru…" Sakura grumbled, causing Neji to skip away so that the whole room didn't hear that. He headed for the stairs, "Naruto; you wanted to make a difference; you wanted to save people, and Kiba; you wanted to work with animals and marry Hinata –to be fair, I thought that that last one was just a dream…but you proved me wrong."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Kiba commented flatly as Hinata giggled and kissed his cheek.

"You were all such an accepting group of people," Neji remarked, continuing in his ventures around the room, "I wasn't thankful for it then, but this week has made me realise how much I should appreciate each of you. What Konoha High School did for me was fling me together with people that I liked; and people I hated…and forced us to accept one another. It gave me a chance to realise that we don't all have to be the same. Seeing you all again just showed me that some people change…and some people don't." He looked across the room and locked eyes with Shikamaru.

"…And that's fine," he smiled, "Remembering what we all were and seeing what we've become; I know it sounds corny but it's proved to me that dreams are possible if you aren't afraid of being yourself and go for what you want. I mean; who would've ever thought that Sasuke and Naruto might actually end up together –_that was a rhetorical question_," he added as he sensed rather than saw the hands rising around him. Naruto blushed and Sasuke just rolled his eyes, glaring around the room.

"Hey Neji?" Sasuke remarked coolly, catching the Hyuuga's attention since he'd decided to pull him into his speech, "You're talking about being yourself and going for what you want…does this mean you finally let Shikamaru fuck you?"

There was an outburst of applause and laughter at the Uchiha's smooth question and Neji immediately flushed scarlet and stumbled for a comeback. Shikamaru, laughing along with everyone else, got up from his seat with a yawn and took the microphone away from the flustered Hyuuga.

"What I think Neji would like to finish with…" he drawled, "Is with saying '_Thank you_'. On behalf of all your ex-head students; I'd like to say thanks for a fantastic high school experience and it's been great seeing you again after all this time. We've all grown up (except maybe Naruto) –"

" –Hey!"

" –But it's nice to know that some things won't change," he chuckled, "Naruto's still always going to be Sasuke's idiot –"

"_Shikamaru, stop picking on me_!"

" –Ino's always going to whinge about her weight; we're hopefully always going to hear from each other now; I'm always going to find things, well…_troublesome_…" everyone chuckled at that, " –But one thing that _has_ changed, and which I know you're all dying to ask –_yes_, I finally got in Neji's pants. And he fucking loved it."

There was a roar of approval and everyone leapt to their feet giving a huge round of applause as Shikamaru tugged Neji close to him, thrusting the microphone into Kakashi's amused face. Neji flushed scarlet as Shikamaru murmured, "We're talking. Now," in his ear and dragged him off from the room as Kakashi started wondering how on earth he was going to get everyone to settle down after that sort of news.

When they were finally alone, Shikamaru took a few steps back and stared at the blushing Hyuuga.

"Not so bold now, are we?" he teased.

"Shut up," Neji grumbled, aware of how weak a comeback that was. He folded his arms huffily across his chest, "I meant it."

"What did you mean?" Shikamaru inquired innocently.

"…That I…that I wanted you…" he mumbled, "Even back in high school."

"You sure had a funny way of showing it," Shikamaru remarked casually, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

" –I already told you; I was confused about liking a guy, okay?" Neji sniffed, "I…" he looked away, "…I hated that you were as good as me…if not better. You had every bad habit and attitude I'd ever hated…and yet I felt drawn to you! I didn't even know if you were gay! Do you understand how infuriating it was?"

" –What? That you were the professional, studious, hardworking genius of the school and the person you liked was the school's laziest student ever?" Shikamaru grinned as the Hyuuga nodded shortly, "…Well, imagine this from _my_ point of view. I was the laziest student at Konoha that spent high school liking the stick-up-his-ass, straight-as-an-arrow, all-work-no-play, completely unattainable, insufferable know-it-all boy wonder. I thought I had no chance _ever_. Well, until I realised that you had the hots for me. After that it was infuriating since you went to rather extreme lengths to disguise how much you wanted me."

"Fat lot of good it did me," Neji grumbled, "…Everyone seemed to know anyway."

"Our year group had a _fantastic_ gaydar," Shikamaru shrugged, "Dated Ino for like a week before she announced to me that if I wanted cock, I was looking in the wrong place. She had you pegged as gay since the start of sophomore year. And you know Sai? Totally gay."

" –I'm pretty sure he groped me," Neji frowned, "Like, pretty recently too. As in a few days ago..."

"Oh he groped everyone," Shikamaru assured him, "Not a good example. But please tell me you knew about Kakashi and Iruka?" Neji's mouth fell open. "I'll take that as a no. Maybe everyone else's gaydars were working overtime since yours appeared to be broken…"

"Why didn't anyone tell me these things…" Neji sighed.

"…Because you were kind of a jackass to everyone," the other man reminded him, "Okay. So we've sorted out that you were in the closet at high school and embarrassed about liking me. Why keep up pretences this week? Especially when I hit on you…I was pretty obvious about it too."

"…I…I didn't know how to react," he muttered, "I might be attracted to males, but it's not like I've ever _acted_ on that before…" He shifted uncomfortably.

"…Oh don't look like I just stole your virginity," Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "You're twenty-five; look like you took it like a man…even if you _sounded_ like a whore…" Neji's eyes flashed dangerously, "Okay, okay…I was just kidding…"

"…And I didn't know if you were being serious," he admitted, "I don't take kindly to being jerked around." Shikamaru resisted the urge to make some smartass comment, but another dark look from the Hyuuga stayed his tongue.

"I'm going to ask again," Shikamaru sighed, "…Go out to dinner with me. I'll dress nicely, or something; so you don't have to be embarrassed by me."

"…Is it wrong of me to say I'd prefer if you were naked?" Neji remarked casually, leaning back against the wall nonchalantly. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and scanned the empty room; eyeing the way that the Hyuuga casually locked the door.

"When was the last time you had sex?" Shikamaru sighed, "Aside from the obvious…"

"A while," Neji replied stiffly, stalking forwards and grabbing the front of the Nara's shirt, "Sure. Let's go for dinner sometime."

"That is literally all I've been wanting to hear this entire week…and most of high school…" Shikamaru sighed, wrapping his arms around the Hyuuga, "…Although hearing you moan and talk dirty to me was kind of a bonus. You really have been sexually repressed, haven't you?"

"Is that going to be a problem?" Neji inquired flatly, "Too _troublesome_ for you?"

"It's totally fine by me," Shikamaru chuckled, "I just wish you'd said something about ten years sooner…" He leaned down and pressed a kiss against the Hyuuga's lips, "So, what do you say? Dating?"

"Fine," Neji sighed, closing his eyes in pleasure as Shikamaru undid his collar and began planting kisses across his throat, "But seriously; we are going shopping; you look homeless." Shikamaru groaned, but chuckled inwardly to himself. Neji had never been what some might call low maintenance, and it appeared that that was never going to change. But Shikamaru had always liked so many things about Neji; including the way that he was so different from himself and knew that that was something else that was never going to change.

He was secretly curious about why Neji had liked him when he obviously thought he had so many flaws…but that could wait.

For the meantime; he was happy to indulge the apparently rather horny Hyuuga, and kissed him passionately. Denial had apparently done wonders for his libido...

* * *

It was to a crowd that felt the need to nudge each other and chuckle that Shikamaru and Neji finally re-entered the room; the chairs having been moved to the sides to allow for some last moments of socialisation.

"Make any public statement and I swear to god I am leaving you right now," Neji growled warningly to Shikamaru.

"Leaving me? We literally just started dating," Shikamaru complained, slinging an arm around the unwilling Hyuuga's shoulders as Naruto magically materialised nearby with a grin plastered all over his face.

"Congrats Neji," he chuckled, "Seems we both got dragged out of the closet, right?"

"_Dragged_ is right…" Neji muttered.

"Oh well, seems we both got sexy boyfriends out of it," the blonde grinned, apparently dragging Sasuke out of nowhere and latching onto his arm cheekily.

"Watch who else you're calling sexy, _Naruto_," Sasuke warned, saying Naruto's name in a rolling purr.

"Oh, I love it when he's broody and possessive," Naruto chuckled, glaring at the raven.

"…Well, aren't you a sudden cup of rainbows…" Shikamaru remarked, unsurprised with how comfortable Naruto was at suddenly deciding that he was gay for Sasuke. Naruto always had been the most accepting and permanently chirpy guy in their year; and maybe discovering that he was actually into his male rival wasn't so difficult to believe.

" –By the way, we totally made sure that no one went to look for you," the blonde grinned, "…Although as an unintentional side effect; everyone now knows exactly what you were doing." Neji groaned and Shikamaru smirked, leading him off as Naruto waved dramatically at someone who was appearing at the doorway.

"Mom! Dad!" he exclaimed in excitement, pulling away from Sasuke to head over to his parents.

"Lovely to see you're still here and in one piece," Kushina greeted with a grin, hugging her son tightly, "It wasn't so bad, was it?" She noticed Sasuke lingering several metres back and moved up to embrace him as well. Sasuke looked distinctly uncomfortable; especially as his mother and brother appeared in the doorway.

"Hello, little brother," Itachi greeted gleefully, noting Naruto's presence, "So, did you finally confess to Naruto?" Sasuke glared darkly.

"He sure did!" Naruto beamed with a smirk, wrapping his arms around Sasuke and resting his head on his chest teasingly. Sasuke rolled his eyes, running a hand up the blonde's back as Mikoto squealed in delight and Kushina held out a hand to her husband. Minato sighed and reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet.

"Mom…what are you doing?" Naruto frowned suspiciously as Itachi smirked and did much the same thing to his own parents.

"Oh, well about ten years ago I bet your father a hundred dollars that you were secretly in love with Sasuke," Kushina shrugged, rather proud of this.

"I bet our parents that you liked each other," Itachi admitted with a shrug, "…Although I already knew I was 50% correct…" He chuckled as Sasuke glared his most mutinous Uchihan glare at his elder brother, "Oh come on Sasuke, don't be sour; it was obvious."

"Oh my god, Mikoto! We might be in-laws one day!" Kushina exclaimed in delight and the two women immediately embraced each other in delight as Minato and Fugaku tried to remind them to not get ahead of themselves.

"…Must you insist on clinging to me?" Sasuke growled stiffly, noting that Naruto was now rather joyously gripping his hands and swinging them rather camply.

"B-But Sasuke; you _love_ me….remember?" he teased.

"Idiot," Sasuke grumbled crossly, facepalming with his free hand.

"Naruto, I heard your parents kidnapped you to get you here," Itachi remarked, ushering them all further into the crowd as he jabbed the blonde in the neck, "…Well, judging by the hickeys, I assume you've had not such a terrible time after all…" Naruto blushed a little as Sasuke sighed heavily and ignored his brother as Naruto was dragged off by his parents.

"I'm happy for you, baby brother," Itachi remarked under his breath as Sasuke watched Naruto leave; his eyes softening in the way that Itachi knew that only Naruto could cause, "…You waited a long time for him." Itachi smiled to himself as Sasuke just shrugged, "…I suppose only he was ever the one for you…am I right? After all; who else put up with you?" Sasuke turned to glare at his brother crossly.

"Shut up Itachi." Itachi smirked as his younger brother stalked off to join their parents.

To anyone who would've looked in on the room, they would see a raven-haired man berating a blonde for being too loud, though no one could miss the affection in his voice or the joy in the blonde's bright blue eyes. They would see a pale brunette with long hair crossly criticising a bored man with black hair tied in a ponytail. The ponytailed man would be rolling his eyes and tell him to cheer up because he was dating a surgeon –and how respectable was that. To look at them, no one would suspect that a week ago, the pairs hadn't spoken in years.

They just fit.

Finally. After seven years of waiting.

The class of Konoha High School learnt several things that week; several things that they should've realised back in high school. They learnt that people can change in a matter of years –who they are doesn't have to remain constant. They learnt that peoples' opinions can always change, though there will always be people they liked, and people they don't. They discovered that relationships can change; that people grow and learn and come to accept things about themselves and others.

They learnt that high school never really ends.

* * *

**End. Love that cheesiness or no? Chur for keeping up with it, either way! I'll get something new in the works :D  
Much love,  
xx K**


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